Is SWIFT Facing Its End? Russia Unveils Global Expansion Of BRICS Pay

As geopolitical tensions reshape global balances, the BRICS are accelerating the establishment of their own payment network. Driven by Russia, this infrastructure aims to emancipate itself from SWIFT and to open a financial avenue outside western control. The announcement of its accessibility to non-member countries marks a strategic break. Beyond a regional tool, BRICS Pay is becoming a lever of global influence and a strong signal in favor of a multipolar monetary order.

The BRICS Pay network opens up to the world

The Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, confirmed that the future BRICS payment network, still under finalization, will be accessible to third countries.

Indeed, during an official statement, he stated that “countries that are not members of the BRICS will have the possibility to use this payment system as soon as it is launched“.

This opening represents a major strategic expansion for an infrastructure initially designed as a tool for regional integration.

Such a system aims to strengthen the autonomy of emerging economies in the face of the hegemony of the SWIFT system, often perceived as a lever of western influence. Several characteristics give the BRICS Pay system an attractive potential:

• Regional interoperability: the network aims to connect the national payment systems of BRICS members, such as MIR (Russia), RuPay (India), or CIPS (China);
• Openness to non-member countries: the architecture of the system is designed to integrate third states as soon as it is implemented;
• Bypassing sanctions: by freeing itself from channels dominated by the United States and Europe, commercial exchanges can continue unhindered;
• Promotion of national currencies: payment for transactions would be made without going through the dollar, using directly the currencies of participating countries.

This initiative could thus attract nations wishing to secure their international financial flows outside the western sphere. It remains to validate its technical robustness and its capacity to integrate into existing international standards.

A dedollarization strategy with still ambiguous contours

Beyond the technological aspect, the stakes of BRICS Pay are also monetary. The extension of the system to third countries is part of a global movement to reduce dependence on the US dollar.

In this regard, discussions around the creation of a unified payment mechanism based on a basket of national currencies reflect the ambition to build a form of financial sovereignty. During his speech, Sergei Lavrov mentioned the need to “develop an independent payment system, based on the use of national currencies and outside the control of western structures“.

However, while the political will is evident, implementation promises to be more complex. Internal divergences among BRICS alliance members, particularly between China and India, complicate the prospect of a common currency.

As it stands, the proposed solutions rely more on interconnecting existing national payment systems than on creating a single monetary instrument. Simultaneously, the current supremacy of the dollar, which still represents the majority of global foreign exchange reserves, poses a structural obstacle that is difficult to circumvent in the short term.

This gradual dedollarization strategy, although consistent with current multipolar dynamics, could nevertheless generate friction, both within the bloc and with external partners.

The credibility of the BRICS Pay system internationally will depend on its ability to demonstrate its reliability, security, and compatibility with the needs of the economies that consider adopting it. In the medium term, this initiative led by Russia could accelerate the fragmentation of the global financial system into regional or political blocs, each with its own settlement infrastructures. It remains to be seen whether this trend will result in a real shift in balance or merely reinforce diversification without calling into question the current monetary order.