What Is BRICS Pay and How Will It Work? Full Story of BRICS Pay vs SWIFT

Source: Webdunia Hindi | Original Published At: 2026-09-17 11:42:00 UTC

Key Points

• BRICS members committed to investing in BRICS Pay at the 18th BRICS summit in New Delhi to promote local-currency trade and cross-border payments.
• BRICS Pay is described as a decentralized digital payment ecosystem that links existing domestic payment systems rather than creating a single currency.
• The BRICS Payments Task Force was asked to develop faster, cheaper, accessible, transparent, and secure practical payment options.
• The article notes that BRICS now has 11 members and represents about 49% of the global population and around 40% of global GDP.
• SWIFT remains the main international financial messaging network, connecting more than 11,000 institutions, and was used to block major Russian banks after the Ukraine war.
• Analysts say BRICS Pay is not expected to replace SWIFT overnight but could create parallel options and support a more pluralistic global payment system.
• Technical challenges include connecting different national systems such as India's UPI, China's CIPS, and Brazil's Pix.