The financial sector is facing an imminent and unquantified risk from quantum computing, which could potentially undermine current cryptography systems, posing an existential threat. Industry leaders are calling for swift action, as the consequences of delay could be significant.
Vincent Loy, Assistant Managing Director at the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), emphasised the urgency of the situation, urging banks and financial institutions to take immediate ‘no-regret moves’. These include conducting an inventory of cryptographic keys and planning for agile system changes to ensure readiness for the coming quantum era.
A particularly alarming risk, known as the ‘Harvest Now, Decrypt Later’ threat, was highlighted by Camilla Bullock, CEO of the Emerging Payments Association, Asia, during a panel discussion at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2025. This refers to malicious actors stealing encrypted data now with the intent to decrypt it later, once quantum computers become capable of breaking current encryption methods.
“Post-Quantum Cryptography (PQC) algorithms, which are essential for migration, are already available,” Bullock noted, reinforcing the idea that the technology to protect against quantum threats is ready for implementation.
Nimish Panchmatia, Chief Data and Transformation Officer at DBS, affirmed that quantum readiness is critical to his bank’s operations, particularly as trust is their number one proposition.
Colin Payne, Head of Innovation at the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), shared the organisation’s strategy to prepare the industry for this disruption. He cautioned that the financial cost of delay could be as high as 2.5% of a bank’s IT budget over the next few years, and could rise to 5% if action is delayed by three to four years.
Bullock further highlighted the complexity of the situation, noting that a single payment transaction can involve up to 20 encryption points, while more intricate systems can involve over 100. As such, creating a complete inventory of cryptographic assets will be a massive undertaking for the sector.
The most concerning scenario, according to Payne, is the convergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and quantum technology. He warned that a single actor could potentially weaponise this combination, leading to a disruptive event that could have far-reaching consequences for the industry.
The panellists unanimously stressed the importance of acting now. Moderator Richard Tong, Co-founder and CEO of Total Neural Enterprises, concluded that the technical challenges posed by quantum computing are not insurmountable, provided companies develop systems that allow for the swift replacement of encryption methods. The time to act is now.