What is Bank of America’s Patent Pending “Keep the Change” Invention?
In 2005, Bank of America began an advertising campaign. By enrolling in “Keep the Change,” every time you buy something with your debit card, the bank rounds up your purchase to the nearest dollar amount and transfers the difference from your checking to your savings account free of charge. Then, the ad explains that the bank will contribute the same amount to your Bank of America savings account, doubling the savings for a limited time. The last few words of the radio commercial and the web site are
patent pending. What does Bank of America believe is new and patentable about this?
Nobody knows exactly. It is patent pending. It is still a secret.
We do know that "rounding" was discovered and has been a part of math for many years. Most of us have used an ATM machine inside a retail stores to transfer money between accounts. If we looked hard enough, I bet we could find someone that liked to transfer money to keep only "rounded" amounts in their checking account, with all the change in the savings account.
So what could be new? Likely, there are no moving parts; nothing you could touch; maybe no computers or software. The invention could be nothing more than the marketing program. One real value of this system, and its related patent pending, is the value of gaining and retaining bank customers through marketing. When this patent issues, it may let Bank of America exclude other banks from marketing or advertising similar programs for up to 20 years.
In the fall of 2008, the law changed the standard for patentable subject matter. Now, there must be a transformation of an article or a concrete result. As far as I know, the Bank of America patent is still pending and still secret.
Other articles that may be helpful:
- How new is new enough?, December 14, 2008: How to use “Prior Art” to help you to decide whether to invest in a patent application.
You can determine how your invention is different from earlier inventions by conducting a “prior art search.” Inventions that come before your invention are referred to as “prior art” by patent attorneys. The differences between your invention and the...
- 3 Factors any Business Plan should Consider Before Filing a Patent Application, December 15, 2008: Factor 1: Can you beat your competition in the marketplace by being First to Market?
When your invention budget is limited, you can opt to invest the maximum money in marketing and forego patent protection. Eventually, the marketplace will copy your success. While your invention and success is unknown, copying is less likely. Since your competitors...
- Time is of the Essence: Speedy filing best preserves your patent rights., February 24, 2008: Filing a patent application has a number of legal effects.
Competitor’s activities, which would have been Prior Art before your patent application was filled, may eventually be found to infringe your patent.
The patent application is a licensable, transferable property right.
Patent rights...
