US banks dominate AI patents as Europe falls behind

North American banks account for the vast majority of artificial intelligence patents in global banking, with Capital One, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase responsible for three quarters of all filings since early 2023, according to new data from AI benchmarking firm Evident.

The research tracks 1,516 AI-specific patents filed since January 2023 by 21 large banks across the US, Canada, Europe and Asia-Pacific. It shows that overall activity is rising. It also shows that patent ownership is concentrated in a small group of institutions.

Evident found that US banks file more than 85% of all AI patents in banking. The firm links this pattern to the US legal and corporate environment. It highlights patent rules, litigation risk and internal innovation processes as contributing factors.

The data set offers a consolidated view of how large banks convert AI research into intellectual property. It also highlights changes in focus as generative AI, agentic systems and multimodal technology move closer to deployed use in financial services.

Capital One, Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase account for 75% of all AI patents filed by banks over the past decade. Evident states that the ten most active filers are all in North America. That group comprises Capital One, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, TD Bank, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, US Bank, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and PNC.

The report points to a widening gap between North American and European banks on AI-related intellectual property. European institutions file significantly fewer patents. HSBC is the main exception in the region. The bank pursues cross-jurisdiction filings that cover its core markets.

Evident records a sharp increase in patents that relate to generative AI in banking. GenAI patents made up 6% of all banking AI filings in 2022. That share rose to 17% in 2023. Early data suggests that this trend continues into 2025.

The firm identifies customer service as the leading application area for GenAI patents. Banks are focusing on personalised and customisable interactions with consumers. They are also working on automated support tools for staff.

Several examples in the report illustrate current uses. Capital One has filed patents that use adversarial AI to strengthen chatbot responses. Separate patents cover multi-factor authentication that relies on vehicle data.

Bank of America holds patents for synthetic personas that test chatbot systems. It has also filed for generative AI-driven CAPTCHA tools. These tools assess whether a user is human or a bot.

JPMorgan Chase has filed patents for cloud-based software agents. These agents identify and fix software issues autonomously. TD Bank has filings that describe orchestration systems for large language model agents.

Other banks focus on security and analytics. HSBC holds patents for AI-based anomaly detection in cybersecurity. Wells Fargo has filed for sentiment-based customer analytics that use customer communication data.

Evident describes filings for agentic AI as early but growing. Only eight banks worldwide have filed for patents in this area so far. The most active institutions are Bank of America, Capital One and JPMorgan Chase.

They are followed by TD Bank, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, BNY Mellon and Barclays. The filings cover software agents that take actions, coordinate with other systems, or manage complex workflows.

The firm links these developments with a broader shift toward more autonomous AI systems in banking. Many of these systems still sit in pilot or limited production environments.

The pattern of filings suggests that North American banks aim to secure protection around core AI methods and applications. European banks, by contrast, appear to rely more on other approaches to innovation. These alternatives include partnerships, vendor relationships and open source tools.

Alexandra Mousavizadeh, Co-founder and CEO of Evident, said patents remain only one marker of progress.

“While patents aren't the only marker of innovation in banking, they offer a signal of who is investing early to build proprietary AI capabilities,” said Alexandra Mousavizadeh, Co-founder and CEO, Evident. “The data shows a clear divide: a few North American banks are investing aggressively in IP to shape the next decade of AI, while others, particularly in Europe, are following a different playbook. As GenAI and agentic systems shift from pilots to production, investment in IP will become one indicator of who is building defensible technology for the long term.”