The banking and payments industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation owing to ever changing consumer expectations. The rapid technological developments in the areas of banking and payments that aim to offer seamless experience to consumers is now becoming even more vital for industry participants as competitors leverage new technologies such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, cybersecurity, and embedded finance as they compete to stay relevant and grow in the market. In the last three years alone, there have been over 92,000 patents filed and granted in the banking industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Robotics in Banking: automated toll payments.
According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which uses over 195,000 patents to analyse innovation intensity for the banking industry, there are 60+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.
Automated toll payments is a key innovation area in robotics
Automated toll payments system is a mechanism for automatically collecting toll payments from vehicles passing through toll roads, bridges, or tunnels. This system typically uses electronic toll collection technology, such as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) or GPS (Global Positioning System), to detect the vehicle and deduct the toll fee from a pre-paid account.
GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies. According to GlobalData, there are 10+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established banking companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of automated toll payments.
Key players in automated toll payments – a disruptive innovation in the banking industry
‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.
‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.
Patent volumes related to automated toll payments
| Company | Total patents (2010 - 2021) | Premium intelligence on the world's largest companies |
| Nuro | 113 | Unlock company profile |
| INRIX | 83 | Unlock company profile |
| Cloudparc | 56 | Unlock company profile |
| State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance | 44 | Unlock company profile |
| Nio | 40 | Unlock company profile |
| Parking Cloud | 11 | Unlock company profile |
| Navient | 9 | Unlock company profile |
| General Motors | 8 | Unlock company profile |
| Beijing Watchdata System | 8 | Unlock company profile |
| Toyota Motor | 7 | Unlock company profile |
| Honda Motor | 7 | Unlock company profile |
| Didi Global | 6 | Unlock company profile |
| Continental | 5 | Unlock company profile |
Source: GlobalData Patent Analytics
State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance is a key patent filer in the field of automated toll payments. The company has filed several patents for merchant terminals to receive payments from a vehicle, vehicle sensors, detecting transportation company trips in a vehicle, and systems to monitor vehicle usage data. Some other key patent filers in the automated toll payments industry are Navient, Nuro and INRIX.
In terms of application diversity, Nio leads the pack. Nuro and Navient stood in the second and third positions respectively. By means of geographic reach, Toyota Motor holds the top position followed by Didi Global and Navient.
To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the banking industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Banking.
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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.
GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
