BRICS Pay instead of the dollar: an alternative to SWIFT is even closer

BRICS develops digital payment mechanisms and settlements in national currencies to reduce dependence on US dollar And SWIFT.

BRICS countries are accelerating work on an alternative digital payment infrastructure that should reduce dependence on US dollarWestern banking channels and systems SWIFT. For now, we are not talking about an officially approved single BRICS currency, but about a combination of national currencies, digital payments and cross-border payment mechanisms.

The topic of dedollarization has again come to the fore following reports of the possible integration of central bank digital currencies and the development of the system BRICS Pay. As he writes BRICS Infoin 2026, an initiative to link national digital currencies and payment platforms of the BRICS countries for cross-border payments is being discussed.

However, it is important to separate the real process from loud slogans. Official BRICS documents speak primarily of the expansion of settlements in national currencies, the development of correspondent banking networks and the creation of faster, cheaper and independent payment instruments. IN Kazan Declaration BRICS By 2024, countries had explicitly welcomed the use of local currencies in financial transactions between members of the bloc and their trading partners, but did not announce the launch of a single currency. I also wrote about this Reuters.

What exactly is BRICS preparing?

The most realistic scenario is not the emergence of a “single digital ruble-yuan-rupee”, but the creation of a common infrastructure through which countries will be able to make payments in national currencies without necessarily being tied to the dollar and Western intermediaries.

According to Agência Brasilnegotiations on the BRICS payment system, which does not require dollar conversion, have advanced to 2025. The final documents of the financial track talked about finding ways to interoperability of payment systems participating countries.

This may include several elements: payments in national currencies, integration of banking systems, digital wallets, platform BRICS Payuse of national CBDC and clearing mechanisms that allow companies to trade without constantly having to resort to the dollar.

In other words, BRICS does not necessarily need to issue a new currency all at once to break the dollar monopoly. Sometimes it is enough to build a bypass road. This doesn’t make the Dollar Highway disappear, but drivers are starting to ask why they are required to pay tolls only there.

BRICS Pay: not a currency, but an infrastructure

BRICS Pay most often described as a payment and communications infrastructure designed to simplify payments between the bloc countries and their partners. It should not work as a single currency, but as a mechanism for transmitting payment messages and conducting transactions in national currencies.

That is why statements about “a new BRICS digital currency that will replace the dollar” require caution for now. Even pro-Russian and pro-Brix think tanks admit that a full-fledged single currency remains a much more difficult task. TV BRICS provides an expert assessment that in 2026 it is possible to create a payment system or a digital clearing mechanism, but not a full-fledged common currency.

The reason is obvious: the BRICS economies are too different. China, India, Russia, Brazil, South Africaas well as new participants in the block have different currency regimes, different financial interests, different levels of capital controls and different degrees of trust in each other. Creating a common currency for such a set of countries is a much more difficult task than releasing a beautiful picture of a BRICS gold coin on social networks.

Why is the dollar still under pressure?

Even without a single currency, the BRICS strategy could gradually weaken the role of the dollar in certain segments of trade. The main blow is not to the status of the dollar as a global reserve asset, but to its obligatory nature in bilateral and multilateral settlements.

After sanctions against Russia and the freezing of reserves, many countries in the Global South began to look at the dollar system differently. For them, the problem is no longer only about the commission or the convenience of payments. The problem is that access to dollar infrastructure can become a political weapon. And if the financial system is used as a tool of pressure, then the natural reaction is to look for alternative channels.

This is why BRICS de-dollarization is evolving not as a romantic rebellion against the US, but as a pragmatic attempt to reduce vulnerability. Russia And Iran are interested in this because of sanctions. China – due to long-term rivalry with the United States. India And Brazil They act more cautiously, preferring to expand payments in national currencies, but not turn BRICS into an open anti-Western bloc.

India and cautious dedollarization

Position India especially important. New Delhi does not want to break relations with the West and is at the same time interested in reducing transaction costs and expanding payments in national currencies. In 2025, Indian sources emphasized that dedollarization as a political slogan is not part of India’s financial agenda, and trading in local currencies remains a priority. I wrote about this Times of India.

This shows the internal contradiction of BRICS. For Moscow and Tehran, the new payment infrastructure is a matter of sanctions survival. For Beijing, it is a tool for strategically weakening the dollar system. For India and Brazil, it is more of a way to diversify, but not a reason to burn bridges with the dollar. In one club, everyone wants more financial independence, but not everyone wants the same speed and the same political price.

Why the single currency remains difficult

Creating a single currency requires not only technology, but also trust. We need common rules for issuance, clearing, reserve provision, exchange rates, capital controls, settlement of trade imbalances and a dispute resolution mechanism. BRICS does not yet have a single central bank, a single fiscal policy, a single capital market and a comparable level of integration.

Therefore, even if a digital payment mechanism is created, it will likely become alternative settlement infrastructureand not a full-fledged replacement for the dollar. The dollar will retain its role as a key reserve asset because it is backed by the depth of US financial markets, liquidity, global trading habits and the inertia of central banks.

But inertia is not eternal. If more and more transactions between the BRICS countries, their partners and exporters of raw materials take place in national currencies, the share of the dollar in such payments will gradually decrease. This is not a collapse, but erosion. Not an explosion of a building, but a constant erosion of the foundation. It’s boring, but sometimes this is how large structures collapse.

What does this mean for the US?

For USA the main threat is not that the BRICS digital currency will appear tomorrow and instantly displace the dollar. It won’t be like this, no matter how much the authors of headlines with fiery letters would like it. The real threat lies elsewhere: countries in the Global South are gradually building tools that allow them to be less dependent on American financial infrastructure.

This reduces the effectiveness of sanctions, reduces Washington’s control over international payment flows and gives large economies more room to maneuver. This is why the American reaction to talk about the BRICS currency was so nervous: Donald Trump previously threatened the bloc countries with tariffs if they tried to undermine the role of the dollar. Reuters wrote that BRICS, in turn, rejected accusations of being “anti-American,” but continued to discuss payment mechanisms and settlements in local currencies.

Editorial comment

BRICS has not yet created a full-fledged single currency that will replace the dollar tomorrow. But this does not mean that the process is not important. Something else is much more serious: the countries of the bloc are step by step building a settlement infrastructure where the dollar ceases to be an obligatory intermediary. For the global financial system, this may turn out to be more dangerous for the United States than the high-profile launch of a new coin with a beautiful name.

The dollar will not collapse from one BRICS digital project. But its political lack of alternative has already been undermined. The more Washington uses the dollar system as a weapon of sanctions and pressure, the more countries will look for workarounds. And if these routes become convenient, fast and sufficiently safe, dedollarization will cease to be a slogan and turn into practice. And practice, unlike declarations, has an unpleasant habit of changing reality.

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