Financial Giants Deploy Quantum Tech to Reinvent Cybersecurity and Fraud Detection
Banks with trillions in assets explore quantum tools for security, efficiency, and post-quantum cryptography compliance
Quantum computing, once the preserve of theoretical physicists, is now rapidly entering the financial mainstream. With the potential to disrupt traditional cryptographic systems and transform operational infrastructure, quantum innovation is at the forefront of senior executives' minds at major institutions.
Leaders from Mastercard, Barclays, and Santander gathered to explore how quantum strategies are being deployed to protect vast asset holdings, optimize fraud detection, and ensure interoperability in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
"We've been working on Quantum for the last five to six years," said Rahul Deshpande, Executive Vice President and Global Head of R&D at Mastercard. "The goal for us is to ground quantum into something practical by applying it to areas where it can deliver tangible results for our customers and our operations."
Mastercard is utilizing quantum tools to enhance the performance of its fraud detection systems, which currently handle approximately 159 billion annual transactions.
"We get about 40 milliseconds to run a bunch of fraud models in real-time," Deshpande explained. "We are exploring how to lower the number of features used while still getting the same efficacy. We use quantum for that, and we are seeing some promising results."
On the cybersecurity front, Becky Pinkard, Managing Director of Global Cyber Operations at Barclays, spoke of the constant battle her team faces: "We’re facing on a daily basis into literally millions and millions of bits of information—attack information, legitimate information—and being able to distinguish what’s bad versus what’s good is going to reshape the way that we do what we do."
Pinkard said her team manages approximately 12 terabytes of threat data daily. She sees enormous potential in combining quantum machine learning with existing models.
"There's a lot that has progressed with machine learning, and we apply that in our day-to-day operations. With quantum, we could process massive volumes of data with greater efficiency,” she said.
From Theory to Deployment
While fraud detection and security dominate immediate priorities, Mastercard is also exploring quantum-enhanced anti-money laundering and real-time payment verification.
Deshpande said, "The rise of real-time payments enables legitimate convenience but also gives rise to criminals who want to exploit speed. How do we stop that? That's the kind of problem where quantum can help."
Pinkard emphasized that Barclays is also assessing quantum for boosting business process efficiency.
"When the bank looks across things like transaction settlements and derivatives optimization, we're evaluating quantum to see how it can help us become more efficient, faster, and reap the benefits from optimization,” she said.
For Mark Carney, Head of Quantum Cybersecurity Research at Santander, quantum technology presents new approaches to solving problems previously deemed intractable.
"There are graph-theoretic problems that are currently too complex. If we can solve them, we gain advantages in currency arbitrage, index tracking, value-at-risk, and cybersecurity," he said.
Carney likened the bank to "a big box with all the money" and stressed that quantum computing enables time compression in problem-solving.
These insights were shared at the Commercializing Quantum Global 2025 conference, held on May 13, 2025, in London and organized by The Economist. The event brought together industry leaders to assess how financial institutions are preparing for quantum disruption.
Interoperability and Tokenization
All three executives expressed concern about how quantum systems will coexist with traditional infrastructure. With initiatives such as the Bank for International Settlements (BIS)-led Project Agorá, which includes over 40 global institutions, post-quantum cryptography and tokenization are now industry-wide priorities.
"In 2021, we launched one of the first quantum-resistant algorithms into our contactless systems," said Deshpande. "That's now a standard for EMVCo."
EMVCo, which stands for Europay, Mastercard, and Visa, is the global technical body responsible for managing specifications and testing processes to ensure secure and interoperable payment transactions worldwide.
"But we had to make sure the chip on the card could handle the compute requirements," he added. Even with leadership in standards, the path ahead is not without challenges.
"There’s a cost involved," Deshpande added. "Right now, it’s more about future-proofing ourselves for the eventual threat to our systems."
Pinkard flagged the broader risk of inequality.
"Are we facing a 'quantum divide' similar to the digital divide? There are a lot more banks and financial services beyond those involved in big projects. And some may lack access to the right hardware or guidance."
Carney noted that traditional cryptography lacks agility. "Now we have to have a crypto-agile approach. We want to secure everything from government bonds to CBDCs [central bank digital currencies]. But not all data is equal. Some—like mortgage details—matter for decades, and we must protect them accordingly."
The solution, according to Carney, lies in being dynamic and responsive: "Historically, cryptography standards were fixed for five years. That won’t work anymore. We need a much more agile and considerate approach to evolving threats."
ESG Pressures and Quantum Efficiency
The executives also discussed the implications of quantum for ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) compliance. Quantum systems, particularly those requiring near-absolute zero cooling, have significant energy demands.
"Mastercard plays to be net zero by 2040," said Deshpande. "Quantum can help us reduce compute needs. If we reduce the number of features required to run fraud models, we lower cost and energy consumption."
Pinkard emphasized the need for transparency and accountability from partners.
"Are they tracking their carbon footprint? Are they sharing that data? Are they contributing towards easing that footprint? We have to ask these questions,” she said.
Carney acknowledged growing environmental scrutiny.
"Some of that is definitely down to the vast data centers that power our systems. However, there are use cases—such as photonic quantum computing—where a task can be completed in a single clock cycle. That gives us huge gains for relatively modest energy use."
He added, "It’s not just about picking the most powerful system. It’s about being selective in where and how we utilize quantum to make sure we get real returns."
Deshpande stated that quantum computing is unlikely to be universally adopted across all applications, but it can deliver ESG benefits when targeted appropriately. Mastercard, he noted, is focusing its efforts on deploying quantum in scenarios where it demonstrably reduces computing load and energy consumption.
Carney also noted that some challenges—such as emissions reporting and cryptographic resilience in high-impact financial data—are too complex for traditional tools alone. He said financial institutions now face a critical window: begin applying quantum approaches to those tasks or risk falling behind in both performance and regulatory standards.
As quantum continues to shift from experiment to infrastructure, leaders agree that the time for passive observation has passed.
"It is time for us to pay attention and to wake up now," Pinkard urged. “You need to be on the roadmap for it today, even if you're in a developing market.”
With financial systems under both threat and opportunity, quantum readiness may well become the next litmus test for institutional resilience.