JPMorgan leads quantum computing arms race

Editorial

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The research finds that nearly 80% of 50 major banks tracked by Evident are now engaging with quantum technology. The potential impact is massive – by 2035, quantum computing use cases in finance could create $622 billion in value, according to McKinsey.

Evident analyzed quantum activity at each bank based on size of quantum talent teams, hiring rate for new talent, patents, investments and public engagement.

JPMorgan Chase (JPMC) leads by a wide margin – it accounts for two-thirds of all quantum job postings among tracked banks and has published more than half of all quantum-related research papers. JPMC is already seeing value from quantum-inspired algorithms in portfolio optimization and cybersecurity.

European banks are also to the fore, representing seven of the 15 most active banks in the sector. This includes the likes of HSBC, which is integrating quantum key distribution (QKD) into FX trading and tokenised gold for future-proof cybersecurity and Intesa Sanpaolo which is is exploring quantum applications in credit scoring, fraud detection, and derivative pricing.

“Unlike AI, which is being embedded across every part of a bank – quantum will transform a specific sub-set of use cases. But where it applies, the impact will be staggering,” says Alexandra Mousavizadeh, co-founder and co-CEO of Evident. “Rather than incremental improvements, it will completely transform areas such as portfolio optimization, credit scoring and fraud detection far beyond today’s computing capabilities.”

The report finds that since August, the number of quantum professionals in banking has increased by 10%, and bank-affiliated researchers have published hundreds of quantum papers cited over 3,000 times.

“While quantum computing is still years away from full-scale deployment, banks are laying the groundwork now to gain a competitive edge at the intersection of AI and quantum at this stage. As quantum technology matures, banks that fail to prepare could face both security risks and missed opportunities,” Mousavizadeh concludes.