BRICS Pay to Enable Local-Currency Payments as India and Russia Prepare to Link UPI and Faster Payments

Source: The Tribune | Original Published At: 2026-09-10 17:22:47 UTC

Key Points

• BRICS Pay is designed to facilitate cross-border digital payments in local currencies by connecting existing national payment systems of BRICS member and partner countries.
• India and Russia are set to sign a memorandum of understanding to connect India's Unified Payments Interface with Russia's Faster Payments System.
• The arrangement will be signed with the BRICS Business Council and the Business Forum while preserving each country's control over its domestic payment infrastructure.
• The first phase focuses on customer-to-business payments for travellers, with business-to-business payments for exporters and importers under development.
• The system is expected to support transactions in currencies such as the Indian rupee and Russian rouble rather than creating a single BRICS currency.
• BRICS Pay will use a federated model allowing countries to keep operating their own payment infrastructures under their central banks and domestic regulations.
• The initiative could later expand beyond BRICS to other countries willing to connect their national instant-payment systems.