Catenaa, Tuesday, August 26, 2025-BRICS nations have formally revealed plans for a new cross-border payments system designed to rival SWIFT, marking one of the bloc’s most ambitious steps yet toward de-dollarizing global trade.
The announcement came at the 17th BRICS Summit in Rio de Janeiro, where leaders backed the rollout of a decentralized messaging and settlement framework dubbed “BRICS Pay.”
The system incorporates Russia’s SPFS, China’s CIPS, and India’s UPI networks, and is capable of handling up to 20,000 transactions per second with minimal infrastructure requirements, officials said.
The initiative, presented as the most significant challenge to US. dollar dominance to date, seeks to insulate member states from Western-controlled platforms and sanctions. Russia has championed the project as a direct response to restrictions placed on its banking sector following the invasion of Ukraine.
Yet member positions remain mixed. Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das stressed that New Delhi is “not thinking to move towards de-dollarization,” reaffirming that the US. dollar will remain central to global finance. Analysts warn that without full participation, the initiative could struggle to scale.
SWIFT processes about $150 trillion annually, underscoring the scale of disruption a successful alternative could create. Experts say widespread adoption could trigger a dollar glut and shift global trade patterns, but the Kazan Declaration offered no firm implementation timeline.
Despite technical hurdles and political caution, BRICS leaders framed the project as part of a broader strategy to boost financial sovereignty and deepen South-South economic ties.
