Financial technology and transformation
The Global Risks Alliance (GRA) studies how technology changes the risks the financial system carries: models and automation in credit and underwriting, digital platforms and payment rails, digital assets, and the cryptographic transition that quantum computing will force. The work is research and professional learning. GRA does not build, sell, endorse or operate financial technology, and it never advises on a product or a transaction. This section belongs to The Global Risks Alliance home and draws on the technology and operational risk platforms.
- 01SectionAI and automation
- 02SectionDigital assets research
- 03SectionQuantum and cryptographic transition
GRA · Institution · service level R0
The short answer.
Financial technology and transformation, at GRA, is research and professional learning on how technology changes the risks the financial system carries: models and automation in credit and underwriting, digital platforms and payment rails, digital assets and the cryptographic transition quantum computing will force. GRA builds, sells, endorses and operates no financial technology.
Draft to published version.
Fig.How a finding is reviewed before it is published. Design, not a record.
Financial centres and urban exposure in the contiguous United States.
The cities where people, assets and financial activity concentrate, shown for the contiguous United States as an example geography for this subject.
Technology moves risk faster than institutions adapt.
New technology rarely creates a wholly new kind of loss. It changes the speed, scale and concentration of losses the industry already knows: operational failure, model error, fraud, liquidity runs and third-party dependence.
Faster transmission
Instant payments, automated trading and digital channels let a shock travel across institutions in hours rather than weeks, which shortens the time supervisors and boards have to act.
Shared providers
Many institutions now rely on the same cloud, data and model providers. A single failure can reach many balance sheets at once, as the transmission view on the GRA home page shows.
Harder to explain
Complex models and automated decisions can be difficult to validate, explain to customers or challenge, which raises conduct, fairness and model risk together.
Technology rules in force and pending, October 2026.
| Rule | Status |
|---|---|
| EU AI Act high-risk duties for credit scoring | From 2 December 2027 after the AI Omnibus |
| US model risk guidance SR 26-2 | Issued April 2026 |
| DORA | Applies since January 2025 |
| MiCA | Fully applicable since December 2024 |
| NIST post-quantum standards | Published August 2024 |
Pending items are named as pending. GRA rechecks each status against the issuing body before republishing, because technology rules have moved repeatedly since 2024.
Three lines of work, one evidence standard.
- 01
AI and automation
How statistical and machine-learning models are validated, governed and overseen in credit, underwriting, fraud detection and operations, and what happens when many institutions rely on similar models. See AI and automation.
- 02
Digital assets research
The prudential, operational and conduct risks of tokenised instruments, stablecoins and distributed ledgers, studied for professional learning and never as trading, custody or investment guidance. See digital assets research.
- 03
Quantum and cryptographic transition
What the move to quantum-resistant cryptography means for payments, records, digital identity and continuity planning, and why long-lived data is exposed today. See quantum and cryptographic transition.
Each line publishes research only after review, with its evidence label, sources and limits stated beside every finding.
Questions GRA asks of any new technology.
- Which existing financial risks does it amplify, and through which channels?
- Who depends on whom, and where does concentration build up across institutions?
- Can its outputs be validated, explained and contested by the people they affect?
- What fails safely, what fails together, and how is service restored?
- Which questions belong to supervisors, auditors or the institution itself, and not to an industry body?
GRA describes technologies to help institutions ask better questions. It does not evaluate vendors, recommend products or certify any system. The science of each technology is described by The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation (GCRI) in its innovation and technological change pages.
What is available now.
The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. Research outputs in this section are listed here as they are released through publications and professional briefs; none is presented as released until it has passed review. Researchers and institutions can propose a question to research@globalriskalliance.com; the acknowledgement gives a reference and names the next step.
Terms used on this page.
Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Model risk | The potential for adverse consequences from decisions based on incorrect or misused model outputs, as SR 11-7 describes it. |
| Digital asset | A digital representation of value or rights that can be transferred or stored electronically, such as a crypto-asset, a tokenised security or a stablecoin, regulated according to its function. |
| Quantum-safe migration | The planned replacement of public-key cryptography that a future quantum computer could break with post-quantum algorithms, such as those NIST standardised, across an organization's systems. |
| Third-party provider | A licensed firm that accesses account data or initiates payments with the customer's consent. |
Where this page's references lead.
The bodies and documents this page is read against. Status and editions change; each link goes to the issuing body.
- EU AI Act (Regulation 2024/1689) as amended by the AI Omnibus, Regulation 2026/1744 (credit-scoring high-risk duties from 2 December 2027)
- US interagency revised guidance on model risk management, SR 26-2 (April 2026), superseding SR 11-7
- EU Digital Operational Resilience Act, Regulation 2022/2554 (applies from 17 January 2025)
- EU Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA), Regulation 2023/1114
- NIST post-quantum cryptography standards FIPS 203, 204 and 205 (August 2024)
Pages in Financial technology and transformation.
Questions and answers.
Does GRA test or rate fintech products?
Is this section investment research?
How does this relate to the Fintech Nexus platform?
Can I contribute expertise?
Around GRA.
Start with an enquiry.
The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.