BRICS Pay and the New Asian Financial Architecture

Jennifer Montoya[1], OBELA[2]

Following the 2008 crisis, the BRICS countries began to develop their own International Financial Architecture (IFA) to reduce reliance on the dollar. They have opted for trade paid in local currency, as well as for the development of various infrastructure that reduces reliance on the Western-dominated transaction system, to lower transaction costs and reduce uncertainty about the dollar's price. In this context, BRICS Pay emerged, a platform presented in October 2024 at the summit in Kazan, Russia. This would allow cross-border transactions through the interconnection of national systems consolidated in the BRICS+ and allied states, such as the Chinese Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS), Brazil's Instant Payment System (PIX), India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and Russia's Financial Messaging Transfer Payment System (SPFS). This article will analyse the BRICS Pay payment system, the national payment systems that will be connected to it, and their implications for the new AFI.

BRICS Pay is a cross-border payment system developed by BRICS, operating under the BRICS Business Council (CEBRICS), and facilitating international transactions in local currency using QR codes. Rather than creating new infrastructure, BRICS Pay connects existing national payment systems through a decentralised network where each participant manages their own node, reducing centralised control risks while ensuring resilience and security. Oversight and regulation remain with each nation’s central bank, leveraging current national systems.

BRICS Pay connects national payment systems—PIX (reais), UPI (rupees), SPFS (roubles), and CIPS (yuan)—enabling local-currency transactions via QR codes without third-party intermediaries. Digital platforms like WeChat Pay are also incorporated, further broadening integration. 

The initiative arose in 2018, when South Africa introduced the creation of an international payment mechanism, known as the New International Payment System (NIPS), to the BRICS agenda, with the aim of facilitating payments in local currency between BRICS and BRICS+ countries. In 2020, exploration of this new service began, with a focus on commercial implementation. In 2021, a working group dedicated to developing the platform was created. Subsequently, India and Russia began technical evaluations that led to a pilot project resulting in a mobile payment platform with QR code transactions compatible with the UPI system, enabling transfers between international bank accounts. In 2022, an interoperability system was chosen, both bilaterally (between two participants) and multilaterally (among several participants). It was not until 2024 at the Kazan Summit (Russia) that BRICS Pay was officially presented. 

In September 2025, the deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China (PBofC) stated that the CIPS system connected more than 189 countries and territories with transactions of up to USD 12.7 billion. The Chinese system is present on all continents through banks, both directly and indirectly. UPI is accepted in nine countries and aims to expand to 20 countries by 2030. The Russian SPFS system is used in 24 countries. Finally, PIX is used in four countries for cross-border trade. See Table 1. 

Graph 1 shows that payment mechanisms are increasing. By 2025, the three together exceeded $ 26 trillion. Given each system's geographic reach, this demonstrates the potential for global interconnection among BRICS Pay systems.

BRICS Pay is not just a technical innovation but also signals a deliberate reconfiguration of the International Financial Architecture. By privileging interoperable digital payment systems in local currencies, it provides tangible solutions to reduce financial intermediation, lower costs, and shorten transaction times, while also building resilience against sanctions that could restrict dollar-based transactions. Its broader significance lies in its potential to break the established dominance of dollar-centric systems and advance a multipolar model for international payments.

Its potential is reinforced by the possibility of interconnecting with established QR-based national systems, such as QRIS in Indonesia. This was later incorporated by countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines. BRICS Pay can also link up with the payment system being developed jointly by the Swiss National Bank and the European Central Bank. However, it still faces challenges such as technological and financial development differences between regions, where most transactions are conducted in cash. In short, the development of a new IFA is progressing gradually but does not replace the US dollar-centred IFA immediately.