Standard Chartered has signed a collaborative research agreement with the Universities Space Research Association (USRA) to co-operate on the development of quantum computing applications.
In finance, the most promising early use cases revolve around the creation of quantum machine learning models and the ability to pick out predictive signals in Big Data.
Kahina Van Dyke, global head of digital channels and client data analytics at Standard Chartered says that as quantum computing technology matures, clients should benefit from higher quality services such as faster execution, better risk management and the development of new financial products.
“Similar to other major technological advancements, quantum computing is set to bring widespread benefits as well as disrupt many existing business processes," she says. "This is why it’s important for companies to future-proof themselves by adopting this new technology from an early stage. The partnership with USRA gives us access to world-class academic researchers and provides us with a unique opportunity to explore a wide range of models and algorithms with the potential to establish quantum advantage for the real-world use cases.”
The signing of the formal collaborative agreement follows an earlier successful investigation between the the bank and the agency into the use of quantum technology for portfolio optimisation.
Alex Manson, global head of SC Ventures, Standard Chartered’s innovation, fintech investment and ventures arm, states: “The world is currently in the process of identifying commercial use cases where quantum computer capabilities will surpass classical computers. We have a conviction that some of these use cases will transform the way we manage risks in financial services, for example by simulating portfolios and exponentially speeding up the generation of market data. We will work with USRA to identify such use cases in financial services, with a view to implementing them within our bank, as well as potentially offering this service to other market participants over time.”