CaixaBank Combines Quantum and Conventional Computing to Classify Credit Risk Profiles

(Finextra.com) CaixaBank is stepping up its experimental application of quantum computing in financial services, developing a machine learning algorithm to classify customers according to their credit risk.
The Spanish bank last year reported on its tests of IBM’s Framework Opensource Qiskit, to implement a quantum algorithm to assess the financial risk of a mortgage portfolio and treasury bills portfolio specifically created for the project using real data.
The bank has applied a hybrid computing framework — which combines quantum computing and conventional computing in different phases of the calculation process — to classify credit risk profiles. To do this, CaixaBank used a public data set corresponding to 1,000 artificial users, with a similar profile to existing customers, but with information configured specifically for the test.