BRICS Shifts Focus to Unified Payment System as Strategic Financial Alternative
Cooperation areas
Source: Berliner Zeitung | Original Published At: 2026-01-21 16:22:33 UTC
Key Points
- BRICS countries are creating Brics Pay – a digital payment platform connecting national systems and CBDCs to enable non-dollar transactions
- The system aims to reduce reliance on SWIFT and dollar-clearing while avoiding politically sensitive currency union debates
- India's central bank has pushed to include CBDC interoperability on the 2026 summit agenda
- The platform draws inspiration from Brazil's successful Pix real-time payment system
- Expanded BRICS membership including energy exporters enhances the system's strategic significance