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The BRICS nations are discussing linking their payment systems and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as they explore ways to reduce the costs and increase the speed of cross-border payments, according to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Sanjay Malhotra.
He said that “Cross-border payments is an area of interest for all of us, including the BRICS, because we feel there is a lot of scope for reducing cost. Various options are being discussed, including CBDCs (central bank digital currencies) and linkages of fast payment systems. India’s Unified Payments Interface, a real-time payment system, is instantaneous. Why do you have to wait for hours, even days for foreign remittances to take place?”
Last week, Indian Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said New Delhi prefers trade settlements in national currencies to a unified monetary system, or a BRICS currency, which has been touted as an alternative to the US dollar.
The RBI proposed that a plan to link the CBDCs of BRICS countries to make cross-border trade and tourism payments easier be included on the agenda of the group’s 2026 summit. India is hosting the summit on September 12-13.
China, India, Russia, and Brazil have already implemented pilot rollouts of CBDCs. An alternative payment system that connects these countries would challenge the SWIFT messaging system, which has been weaponized by the West to keep targeted nations out of global payment networks through sanctions and banking bans.
