Australia’s top banker, RBA Governor Michele Bullock, has raised concerns about the potential threat that quantum computing poses to the country’s payments system and the personal data of millions of Australians.
Speaking at the Bradfield Oration in Sydney, Bullock warned that emerging quantum technology could eventually render current security standards obsolete, requiring widespread upgrades to protect sensitive financial information.
“The fight against fraud and scams will no doubt require further innovation, adaptation, and cooperation by the payments industry – we can be certain that fraudsters won’t stand still in their efforts to steal people’s data and money,” Bullock said. She highlighted the urgent need to migrate card payments to the advanced encryption standard (AES), a quantum-safe solution, to counter future threats.
A study by the University of NSW last year showed that cryptographic algorithms currently used worldwide, which take millions of years to break using modern supercomputers, could potentially be decrypted in hours or days with quantum computing. Lead researcher Dr. Fida Hasan noted that quantum computers could drastically reduce the time needed to break widely used security algorithms such as RSA. Some predictions suggest that quantum computers capable of rapidly decrypting cryptographic systems could emerge within the next decade.
When asked if quantum computing represents the biggest threat to Australia’s payments system, Bullock admitted it is a major concern. “It’s something I worry about,” she said. “What takes 200 years to decrypt now could take a matter of minutes with quantum computing. But advanced encryption standards have been developed to meet this challenge. Still, it’s scary.”
Bullock emphasized that Australians rely on financial institutions to protect their data through encryption, making it critical to stay ahead of quantum computing advancements.
The warning comes as Australians continue to face rising financial scams. According to the ACCC, Australians lost a total of $173.8 million to scams and financial fraud in the first half of 2025, up 26% from the same period last year. ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe noted that technology has enabled scammers to reach more people than ever, with schemes becoming increasingly sophisticated and harder to detect.
