Crédit Agricole CIB plans quantum computing project with new partnership
Crédit Agricole CIB, the investment and corporate banking division of Crédit Agricole, has signed a new quantum computing partnership.
The bank says it’s ready for a “remarkable journey”
The division is working with Pasqal and Multiverse Computing to design and implement new approaches running on classical and quantum computers.
Crédit Agricole says while finance has been making “substantial” use of algorithms, now it’s the turn of quantum physics “to help solve quantitative financial problems”.
Through its partnership, the bank says it will apply quantum computing to real world finance applications.
Pasqal, a French technology company, is aiming to build a quantum computer based on neutral atom arrays. Spanish firm Multiverse Computing specialises in quantum algorithms.
“Quantum computing is radically different from almost everything we know and use today, in terms of theory, hardware and algorithms,” says Ali El Hamidi, Crédit Agricole CIB project sponsor.
“This project will assemble many different competencies around the table: bankers, physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists, IT architects, all cooperating to this remarkable journey.
“This is a huge challenge, and we are confident we will make it a success.”
Georges-Olivier Reymond, CEO at Pasqal, says he “strongly believes” in the partnership and the usage of quantum computing for finance.
He adds: “To our knowledge, it is the first ever in which all the stakeholders – software developer, hardware provider and end-user – are working together on a problem.
“All the teams are very excited and this development will be the corner stone of future industrial applications for neutral atom quantum computers.”
Multiverse Computing CEO Enrique Lizaso calls the project a “landmark” one for finance. He says it will put into production “the most advanced tools currently only used in large non-financial institutions in US and China”.
