RBI launches Q-SAFE committee to gear up to protect against Quantum risks - PublishedMay 25, 2026 The Reserve Bank of India -RBI has announced the formation of an Expert Committee for the Quantum Secure and Adaptive Financial Ecosystem (Q-SAFE), a strategic initiative aimed at preparing India’s financial sector for the opportunities and risks emerging from quantum technologies. Quantum technology is increasingly being viewed as the next major technological disruption after artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Unlike classical computing systems, quantum systems leverage principles such as superposition and entanglement, enabling them to process highly complex calculations at unprecedented speeds. In the financial sector, this capability could transform areas such as portfolio optimisation, fraud detection, macroeconomic modelling, high-frequency trading, and advanced risk analytics. However, the same technology also poses a serious challenge to existing cybersecurity systems. Many of today’s encryption standards , which secure banking transactions, payment systems, customer data, and digital identities , could eventually become vulnerable to powerful quantum computers. This has prompted regulators and financial institutions globally to begin planning for a transition toward quantum-safe cryptography. Recognising both the transformative potential and the systemic risks of quantum computing, the RBI has constituted a high-level committee bringing together experts from academia, government, banking, payments, cybersecurity, and quantum research. The committee will be convened by Dr. Anil Prabhakar, Professor at Indian Institute of Technology Madras, and includes key members such as Sunil Kumar from the Department of Science & Technology, Satish Rao Nagesh from State Bank of India, Dilip Asbe from National Payments Corporation of India, and representatives from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the Data Security Council of India, and quantum technology experts from industry. The committee’s mandate reflects the RBI’s growing focus on long-term technological resilience in the banking and financial ecosystem. One of its most important