BoA Looks To Create Multi-Currency Digital Wallet

To provide users with different levels of access to funds that are stored, Bank of America is reportedly aiming to patent a security system that is “partitioned” for crypto-wallets.

The North Carolina-based bank filed a “Multi-Tiered Digital Wallet Security” application in February 2018 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), Coindesk reported.

The office published the application last week and lists a senior tech manager at the bank, Manu Kurian, as the inventor. Through the application, a process of handling cryptocurrency with a wallet interface that is multi-tiered is described on a peer-to-peer network that is decentralized. With the procedure, users would be asked to enter one out of multiple passwords.

One password would provide access to one tier, and another would offer access to a separate tier. Coindesk described the proposal as something akin to a valet key that can’t open the trunk but can open a car door. It also notes that the proposal conceptually resembles specific multi-signature bitcoin wallet types that have been in existence for a long time.

According to the application’s background section per the outlet, a need is present for a better digital wallet infrastructure as private keys can be misplaced and third parties don’t allow users to have complete control when it comes to their currency. As it stands, Bank of America is said to have won 36 applications for blockchain patents with 31 pending.

In separate news at the end of last year, Bank of America was possibly looking into using blockchain technology for automated teller machines (ATMs). The company was said to have detailed a system to “accelerate transaction speed and/or facilitate other types of transactions in addition to ATM transactions like cash withdrawals and deposits” per a USPTO filing.

The bank also noted, according to a report at the time, that the technology might allow devices to “handle a relatively larger amount of transaction volume while reducing its physical cash transportation needs.”