BRICS to debate BRICS Pay progress at New Delhi summit

The BRICS bloc is set to discuss the progress of BRICS Pay at its upcoming summit in New Delhi, India. This mechanism is designed to interconnect the instant payment systems of member nations to facilitate the direct settlement of transactions using local currencies.

The initiative aims to reduce global reliance on the US dollar as a benchmark currency and lower transaction costs. By bypassing the SWIFT interbank messaging network, the bloc seeks to increase financial sovereignty and mitigate the impact of potential sanctions from the United States and Europe, a vulnerability highlighted by the 2022 freezing of Russian central bank reserves.

The proposed system utilizes existing technologies, including blockchain, cards, and QR codes. Member nations are contributing diverse digital infrastructures to the project, such as China’s e-CNY, Brazil’s Pix, and India’s UPI. The BRICS group currently represents more than one-third of the global GDP, providing significant market depth for the proposed ecosystem.