- BRICS Pay is a digital payment system under development by Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa to enable trade in local currencies.
- The platform aims to reduce reliance on the U.S. dollar and the SWIFT payment network for international transactions.
- The system integrates existing national payment infrastructures, including India’s UPI, China’s CIPS, Russia’s SPFS, and Brazil’s Pix.
- BRICS Pay supports the wider de-dollarization effort by promoting local currency settlements and bypassing dollar-based conversions.
- Thirteen partner countries outside of BRICS, including Algeria and Turkey, have shown interest in joining the initiative.
The BRICS nations—Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa—are developing a cross-border digital payment platform called BRICS Pay. Launched to facilitate trade using local currencies, the platform seeks to lessen dependence on the U.S. dollar and the SWIFT financial messaging system. A prototype was demonstrated in Moscow in October 2024.
Efforts toward this system began at the 2014 Fortaleza Summit with the creation of the New Development Bank and the Contingent Reserve Arrangement to counterbalance Western financial influence. In the early 2020s, the BRICS Payments Task Force started designing technical frameworks for the platform. At the Kazan summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed intentions to expand national currency usage in cross-border settlements with a focus on safety and security.
The platform offers an alternative to the SWIFT network, which connects over 11,000 financial institutions worldwide but is governed by Western authorities. Countries like Russia and Iran have faced exclusion from SWIFT as part of economic sanctions. According to a statement by U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, such sanctions drive BRICS members to develop financial transaction methods independent of the U.S. dollar.
BRICS Pay unifies the existing payment infrastructures of member countries, such as India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), Russia’s System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), and Brazil’s Pix. This integration supports transactions without requiring dollar intermediation.
The platform aligns with the broader de-dollarization movement by promoting local currency trade. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reported that over 90% of transactions between Russia and China currently use rubles or yuan. The 2024 Kazan Summit highlighted efforts to enhance correspondent banking and local currency settlements to reduce exposure to U.S. monetary policy and sanctions.
Interest in BRICS Pay extends beyond the founding members. Thirteen partner countries, including Algeria, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Turkey, are exploring collaboration. Despite existing technical challenges related to system interoperability and currency conversion, the initiative represents a growing global trend among emerging economies seeking financial autonomy.
Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro underscored the need for a new international monetary system by stating, “We need a new economic agenda for international trade, with practical solutions for monetary exchange. A new world monetary system is a necessity.”
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