Quantum Cryptography for Fintech Systems - A Comprehensive Review with AI-Assisted Analysis of Current Landscape, Challenges, and Future Directions

Abstract : The financial sector faces escalating cybersecurity threats, exacerbated by the potential emergence of quantum computers capable of compromising widely used classical cryptographic methods. The paper includes an AI-enhanced general review on the use of quantum cryptography to secure financial transactions. Using machine learning methods to assess the principles, potential, and constraints to Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) and PostQuantum Cryptography (PQC), the review is an improvement of the existing view of the current state of quantumsafe technologies. The opportunities and challenges in adopting these technologies in the key financial services, such as banking, digital payments, and blockchain, are analyzed. It has been identified that a hybrid approach that utilizes both QKD to perform secure key exchange and PQC to protect data over the long term can be considered an effective strategy. The review ends by identifying the main future research opportunities and the necessity of standardized, cost-efficient, and scalable quantum security solutions, guided by AI-informed insights, to protect the financial sector against future quantum attacks.