Javier Recuenco Andrés, head of the Technical Architecture Innovation area at BBVA CIB in charge of the pilot project, says of the project: “With these trials, we have shown that at BBVA we can have a proprietary architecture for executing quantum algorithms, which would help further our exploration of their use in complex financial tasks.”

To run its test, BBVA worked with the Quantum Computing team of the digital transformation company VASS and AWS, using Qiskit software to distribute the execution of quantum algorithms across multiple classical compute servers located in the AWS cloud, and created a platform to automate and streamline the distribution process.

During the tests, BBVA was able to run quantum algorithms scaling up to a total computing power of 38 qubits, a scale that is difficult to reach with the use of a single classical computer. The higher the number of qubits, the more complex the problems the system can tackle.

Alongside its own inhouse trials, BBVA is also a founding member of the Quantum Safe Financial Forum (QSFF), a safe space for collaboration between European and US financial firms promoted by Europol’s European Cybercrime Centre (EC3). The alliance aims to foster the creation of new technological systems within the financial industry that are safe, secure and resilient to malicious attacks that rely on quantum computing.

“At BBVA we explore the potential of quantum computing for two main reasons: to try to find better solutions to business problems and to strengthen the security of our communications and data to counteract the malicious use of quantum computing by third parties,” explains Escolástico Sánchez, leader of the Quantum discipline at BBVA. “The distributed quantum simulation pilot we have successfully completed is a further step in this exploration, which could enable different business units of the bank to leverage this technology.”