BRICS Pay will be officially launched at the end of the year.
The tool is expected to allow payments with Visa, Mastercard and WeChat Pay.
As part of the BRICS Business Forum held in Russia on October 17 and 18, participants in the event received new cards to test one of the long-awaited tools that make up the payment system being prepared by the bloc.
The demo cards contained 500 rubles that meeting participants used to make payments at three locations in the World Trade Center in Moscow, as part of tests of the system called BRICS Pay.
This is a form of cashless payment using a QR code that has been in development since 2018, and is expected come into operation at the end of this year for Russians abroad (Türkiye, Egypt and the Maldives), and in 2025 for residents in Russia, according to local media report.
According to the statements of Andrei Mikhailishin, head of the BRICS Payments and Fintech Working Group, with the delivery of the cards to those attending the event the official presentation of the project was made. “The system seeks to offer an option for cashless international payments, with further expansion on a voluntary basis,” the official explained.
As explained during the presentation of BRICS Pay, the retail payment service will also allow use Visa and Mastercard cards, and even China’s WetChat Pay, within Russia. The tool has an application that “will soon be available for download in the App Store and Google Play.” Meanwhile, the app site can be installed on the smartphone screen using the Safari browser.
As pointed out by website of BRICS Pay, the tool will be perfected so that it can be integrated into a series of options that allow BRICS countries to have expanded payment options to liquidate goods and services, consolidating their economic relationships. The idea is depend less and less on the dollar, promote financial diversification and reinforce economic autonomy among the members of the bloc.
The system for dedollarization includes cryptocurrencies
BRICS Pay is part of the series of payment tools that the BRICS have been developing as part of their de-dollarization plan, which will be part of the debate at the Summit to be held next week in Russia (from October 24 to 28).
With a whole series of new tools, the BRICS intend to launch “a new financial system.”
BRICS Pay thus joins the Financial Transfer Message System (SPFS), which would be inserted into the supranational payment platform BRICS Bridgewhich has been developing since last year. BRICS Bridge would function very similarly to mBridge, the central bank cross-border digital currency (CBDC) project that is among the G20’s goals.
“Payments will be made in the national currencies of the BRICS, while the Development Bank will act as an integration, conversion and clearing platform,” said Mikhailishin.
to the list a stablecoin is added: the Common Account Unit (Unir), which would be backed by gold. The new currency will be linked to an underlying reserve basket made up of 40% gold and 60% currencies of the member countries of the BRICS bloc.
The insertion of digital currencies within this system has been ratified today by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who proposed include digital currencies in BRICS payments and investment processes. “I won’t go into details yet, but we want to offer something quite serious,” express the president, suggesting that the proposal will be discussed at the Summit along with the issue of the new payment system.
We are already holding consultations with our Chinese friends, with our Indian friends, and we have just held consultations with the Brazilians. And, without a doubt, we will talk to South Africa. We will do it with everyone, we are doing it. We are moving forward little by little.
Vladimir Putin, president of Russia.
These statements by Putin confirm the announcements that have been made since the beginning of the year, which suggest that cryptocurrencies don’t be left out of the plan of dedollarization that Russia promotes through the BRICS.
