Fintech, or software that provides or is linked to the provision of financial services, is big business.
Digital banks that provide their services solely online through an app are appealing, and not only to younger consumers. The way in which these banks and other finance companies provide their services is heavily software driven and is often touted as providing faster equity trading, hassle-free payment solutions or quicker access to credit.
As we have seen in our previous articles, it is important to consider whether we can tie these commercial advantages to a more technical one in order to get a patent granted.
Is the access to credit provided more easily because you have handled the security/encryption or privacy in the exchange of credit checking information in a different way?
Is the payment solution better because different entities are performing identity verification?
Is the money transfer performed more quickly because of the way the data is sent and checked?
Thus, there are clearly opportunities for patent protection for software in the realm of fintech, but we need to look beneath the business and financial services to see what is happening at the level of the technical implementation. Understanding how this differs from what has come before may identify a patentable innovation.
If you are developing software for fintech and would like to discuss how best to maximise its commercial value with one of the software specialists in our dedicated electronics and communications team, please contact us today.
