"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," asserts Javier Recuenco Andrés, head of BBVA CIB's Technical Architecture Innovation area and project manager.

In order to conduct its test, BBVA collaborated with AWS and the Quantum Computing team of the digital transformation company VASS. Qiskit software was used to distribute the execution of quantum algorithms across several AWS cloud-based classical compute servers, and a platform was developed to automate and optimize the distribution procedure.

It is challenging to run quantum algorithms at a scale of 38 qubits total computing power with a single classical computer, but BBVA was able to do it during the experiments. The more qubits in the system, the more complicated problems it can solve.

In addition to conducting its own internal trials, BBVA is a founding member of the Quantum Safe Financial Forum (QSFF), which is an initiative of Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) that provides a secure environment for cooperation between US and European financial firms. The partnership wants to support the development of new, safe, secure, and resistant to hostile attacks using quantum computing systems in the banking sector.

According to Escolástico Sánchez, BBVA's leader of the Quantum discipline, "we explore the potential of quantum computing for two main reasons at BBVA: to try and 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." "We have successfully completed a distributed quantum simulation pilot as a step in this exploration, which may allow the bank's various business units to utilize this technology."