USAA announced that it was awarded $200 million in a U.S. District Court jury trial in Marshall, Texas, involving a patent infringement case over Wells Fargo involving its remote deposit capture technology. 

USAA originally filed suit in June 2018 alleging Wells Fargo Mobile Deposit infringed on certain USAA patents for remote check capture. 

"The verdict acknowledged the value of USAA's innovation on behalf of members," Nathan McKinley, USAA vice president of corporate development, said in a company release. "We hope the industry acknowledges this verdict as further evidence of the enforceability of these patents."

He said the company's goal was to be reasonably compensated for the benefits that it believes the industry received for the technology. 

"Wells Fargo strongly disagrees with this jury verdict and does not believe it has infringed upon USAA's patent rights," the bank said in an emailed statement. "We believe this is an industry issue involving numerous other banks that license remote deposit capture technology from the same vendor, not USAA."

The bank said it is considering its options on the verdict and trial. The bank said the verdict has no impact on the continued use of remote deposit capture and further development of new products. 

Remote deposit capture allows bank customers to take a digital photo of a check and deposit that image into their bank account just as if they were making a deposit at an ATM or branch. USAA said the technology is currently used by 87 million bank customers in the U.S.

A separate suit regarding additional patents for the same technology was filed against Wells Fargo in August 2018 and is scheduled for trial in 2020, according to the release. 

Cover image: USAA