Technology patents these days can be worth their weight--and then some--in gold. Companies have gone to war, at least in a legal sense, over them, and most every day there's news about some company suing some other company over some kind of patent infringement. And CardinalCommerce, a major name in remote commerce, has just added two new technology patents to its repertoire.

Today, CardinalCommerce made the announcement that they now have two new patents--specifically, patents US 8.099,301 B2 and US 8,170,954--that are geared toward controls on payments at the consumer level and payment systems for benefits administrators on pharmaceutical orders. CardinalCommerce's patents will allow users to set limits and other controls on their bank accounts in regards to automatic bill payments, ensuring that requests for bill payment aren't simply rubber-stamped and paid automatically, but rather that they meet certain criteria before payment is released to the originators.

CardinalCommerce expects its new patents--as well as its old ones; they've been developing their technology patent portfolio over the course of more than a decade, according to their intellectual property law firm Fay Sharpe LLP--to go a long way toward protecting consumers and giving them more control over their bank accounts, providing not only a wide range of services now but a way to continue providing them in the future.

Given the nature of online banking today, and given that a lot more people are using it, it makes sense to have measures in place to protect consumers. Of course, consumers need to protect themselves, but they can't be expected to be the only line of defense. That's why technology patents like those of CardinalCommerce are so important; protecting customers in online banking, especially automatic bill payment, must be foremost in the minds of banks and similar firms.

Since CardinalCommerce's technology patent portfolio now measures 26 issued patents strong--and better than twice that at 60 patents pending--it's safe to say that CardinalCommerce is looking to do just that, and has the technology patents to back up their claims of safety.