A 2016 patent that was made public last week shows how the US lender may use blockchain technology to overhaul its data-sharing systems.

Bank of America may be looking to use the technology behind bitcoin to improve some of its data-sharing systems, according to a recently published patent application.

The filing, published by the US Patent and Trademark Office, details a privately-permissioned blockchain, which would securely record and authenticate personal and business data, granting access strictly to authorized parties.

The system would also monitor and log everyone who has accessed the data.

The patent application, first filed in 2016 but published this week, proposes using a blockchain to combine existing data storage platforms into a single network, enhancing efficiency by reducing the amount of data silos. 

According to the patent, service providers and individuals are increasingly using the internet to share personal and business records. However, "there are a number of disadvantages to using this type of electronic record sharing method," the patent states, including having to repeat the process for each company and the risk of data corruption.

"Embodiments of the invention utilize a private blockchain to store various types of records to be conveyed to the service providers. In this way, the individual or entity may securely store on the blockchain all records relevant to service providers, then provide the service providers with secured access to said records such that the providers may access only the specific records for which they are authorized, e.g. a healthcare provider may access only the healthcare records on the blockchain," the patent states. 

Blockchain first rose to fame in 2009 as the technology underpinning bitcoin, the first and most well-known crypto-currency. Put simply, a blockchain is a digital distributed ledger that facilitates and records transactions without a third party. 

Over the past decade, developers across the world have created thousands of blockchain variations based on the original technology, with each performing unique functions. 

While banks have generally steered clear of crypto-currencies, they have spent millions of dollars exploring the best use cases for blockchain in the hope the technology could one day save them billions of dollars annually.