Quantum tokens could secure cash withdrawals by replacing cards

A quantum-secure framework for cash withdrawals replaces traditional bank cards with non-copyable quantum tokens, offering a new defense against financial crimes. Vineet Kumar of Charles University and the Center for Quantum Engineering and Science proposes integrating token generation, authentication and verification directly into existing banking systems using quantum control techniques. This approach aims to mitigate card cloning, credential theft, and counterfeiting, vulnerabilities that currently threaten the approximately 2.9 million ATMs operating globally in 2024. In India alone, around 250,000 ATMs were in operation at the end of financial year 2025, with public sector banks controlling over half of that network. The proposed quantum system uses three classes of qubits, response, reference and support, to construct a quantum token, a foundational element for secure transactions. These qubits, designated as S, R, and A, are combined to create a token with a total of N qubits, where N equals the sum of the number of qubits in each class (p + q + r). This design allows for the preparation of a raw quantum token through a specific process detailed in the framework, using…