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BRICS payment plans: BRICS Pay and linked national systems
Kazan 2024; New Delhi 2026· Concept
Experts disagreeEconomists or investors genuinely disagree.
Plans by BRICS countries to link their national payment systems so members can trade in local currencies without the dollar.
See it on the Money & Finance map →How it works
BRICS now includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the UAE and Indonesia. At the October 2024 Kazan summit, leaders backed a voluntary BRICS Cross-Border Payments Initiative; 'BRICS Pay', a messaging prototype, was shown there. Ideas include linking China's CIPS, Russia's SPFS, India's UPI and Brazil's Pix. The September 2026 New Delhi summit told a payments task force to keep working, and India said no BRICS currency is proposed.
Why it matters
Linked systems could cut costs and sanctions exposure for members; skeptics note rivalries, especially India–China, and that no shared network works yet.
Facts, rules and data
The Kazan (2024), Rio de Janeiro (2025) and New Delhi (2026) summit declarations, and statements from India's foreign ministry and Russia's finance ministry.
Debates and risks
Whether members will ever accept a shared system that one country, most likely China, could dominate.
Connections (3)
▸BRICS payment plans: BRICS Pay and linked national systems is the BRICS route to De-dollarization and BRICS alternativesExperts disagree
The connection
Rather than a common currency, which India and others oppose, BRICS is pursuing linked national payment systems so members can trade in their own currencies. Supporters call it the pragmatic route to less dollar use; skeptics note that little has actually been built.
When and why
Kazan, October 2024; Rio de Janeiro, July 2025; New Delhi, September 2026.
How solid is the link?
Summit declarations commit to further work, not deadlines; no BRICS-wide network operates yet.
Debates and risks
Whether members' differing interests, especially India's and China's, allow a working system.
▸BRICS payment plans: BRICS Pay and linked national systems would offer an alternative to SWIFT: the bank messaging networkExperts disagree
The connection
A BRICS link would carry payment messages among members' national systems, such as China's CIPS, Russia's SPFS, India's UPI and Brazil's Pix, without SWIFT. That matters most to members under sanctions, such as Russia and Iran.
When and why
Pushed during Russia's 2024 BRICS chairmanship; studied by a BRICS payments task force since.
How solid is the link?
Summit declarations and Russian finance ministry proposals; no live system exists yet.
Debates and risks
Whether members not under sanctions, such as India and Brazil, will risk US displeasure to build it.
▸BRICS payment plans: BRICS Pay and linked national systems drew US threats of Tariffs and trade warsFact, law or data
The connection
In November 2024 Donald Trump, then president-elect, threatened 100% tariffs on BRICS countries if they created a currency to replace the dollar; in July 2025 he threatened an extra 10% on countries aligning with BRICS. The threats raised the political cost of payment plans for members like India and Brazil.
When and why
Social-media posts in November 2024 and July 2025, the latter during the Rio summit.
How we know
Trump's own posts and later White House statements.
Debates and risks
Whether the threats slowed BRICS plans or pushed members closer together.