India’s UPI and Brazil’s Pix have transformed everyday payments. BRICS now wants to make moving money between countries just as simple, but agreements on currencies, costs and control remain unfinished.
At their summit in New Delhi, BRICS leaders discussed connecting their countries’ payment systems so that money can cross borders faster, more cheaply and with greater scope to use national currencies.
They stopped short of announcing a common network. The declaration records technical studies, discussions and a commitment to further work. A dependable international service still requires agreements on currency conversion, funding, regulation and governance.
The negotiations will determine who writes the rules, how much influence smaller countries possess and who takes responsibility when a transaction fails. They will also establish whether a participant can leave without disrupting its commerce.
At a shop counter in India or Brazil, those questions seem remote. A customer scans a code, confirms an amount and waits for the payment to arrive. UPI and Pix have made transfers between accounts an everyday habit. Governments are now exploring how to extend that convenience to a worker sending money home or a business collecting payment abroad.
Some international links already operate. BRICS has yet to bring its members’ national systems into a wider arrangement with dependable currency conversion, sufficient funding and rules its participants are willing to accept.
Last year’s Rio declaration endorsed work on payment connections. Delhi continues that programme, but leaves open many of the details a prospective user would need: which countries will participate, what transactions they will support, what they will cost and who will be accountable when something goes wrong.
From the shop counter to international commerce
India’s Unified Payments Interface and Brazil’s Pix allow people to transfer money directly between accounts without using a debit or credit card for the transaction. The customer sees an app, a code or a payment address. Behind the exchange sits a system connecting financial institutions.
A shopkeeper can accept payment without handling cash. A customer can settle a bill on a phone. A small business can receive money promptly.
Both systems have attracted enormous domestic use. Their success belongs to national payment networks, rather than a shared BRICS service, but it provides a substantial base for international expansion.
A worker sending money home should be able to see the full cost, know how much the family will receive and obtain confirmation without navigating a succession of unfamiliar services. A small exporter should be able to quote a customer abroad and collect payment through a familiar channel.
Providing that experience requires institutions to resolve complications the customer never sees.
The border behind the screen
Consider an Indian buyer paying a Brazilian supplier.
The buyer has rupees. The supplier wants reais. A connection between UPI and Pix would need more than the ability to exchange payment instructions. Institutions must offer the currency conversion and have funds available to complete both sides of the transaction.
The customer needs to know the exchange rate, the charges and the amount that will arrive. The participating institutions need certainty about when the payment becomes final and what happens if one part of the process fails.
The systems must also accommodate different rules on identity checks, fraud prevention, data and financial supervision.
The Bank for International Settlements has been developing Project Nexus to connect domestic instant payment systems internationally. Its design includes foreign exchange providers and institutions that give participants access to settlement accounts. These arrangements support payments passing between currencies and financial systems.
An international transaction might appear continuous on a phone while crossing several institutional boundaries. Each organisation involved must process its part reliably and recognise the obligations of the others.
Building the connections
The connection between UPI and Singapore’s PayNow system has operated since 2023. Work towards a link between UPI and Europe’s TIPS platform, alongside preliminary studies concerning Pix, points towards a wider network of international payment connections.
Countries can build these links individually while BRICS negotiates broader cooperation. The emerging network need not divide neatly between BRICS and the West. A connection with Europe could offer businesses and households the same benefits sought within the grouping: easier transfers, more competition and improved access.
The services available through each connection can vary. Accepting a foreign visitor’s payment at a shop does not necessarily allow unrestricted transfers between bank accounts in two countries. Larger commercial payments may require further arrangements.
A business considering one of these services would need to establish who can send and receive money, what limits apply, which currencies are supported and the total cost. Announcing a connection between two countries does not answer all those questions.
The price of moving money
A payment can be instant and still be expensive.
The transfer fee is one component of the cost. The exchange rate is another. A service offering an attractive headline price may provide less value if the recipient receives fewer units of the destination currency.
Competition among providers could improve those terms. But providers need access to currencies and a means of managing their exposure.
Trade imbalances create a further difficulty. If businesses in one country repeatedly receive more of another country’s currency than they want to spend, they need somewhere useful to deploy it or someone willing to exchange it.
Connecting payment systems cannot create that demand on its own.
Domestic transaction volumes offer evidence of public adoption and operational capacity. International expansion introduces separate demands for currency liquidity and competitive pricing. These will determine whether businesses use a connection regularly or continue with their existing providers.
Who controls the network?
A shared arrangement needs procedures for admitting participants, changing technical requirements and distributing costs. It must establish responsibility when an error occurs across two systems.
A customer whose payment is delayed should not have to discover which institution in which country is responsible before obtaining help. Participating organisations need agreed procedures for investigation and redress.
Smaller countries will have interests to protect. A network can widen access while leaving its most powerful participants in control of the terms.
The ability to change providers or withdraw will affect their bargaining position. An arrangement that is easy to join but costly to leave could replace one dependence with another.
The New Delhi declaration does not publish a complete common rulebook covering these questions. Its payment provisions describe continuing technical work and discussions. Members have encouraged cooperation without yet presenting a fully specified collective service.
Negotiations over voting rights, operating responsibilities and dispute procedures will shape how much control each participant retains.
The test of everyday use
Merchants could gain additional ways to collect money. Families could obtain clearer and more convenient remittance services. Smaller businesses could find international customers easier to serve.
Dependable alternatives could also improve countries’ bargaining power. They do not need to replace the dollar as a reserve currency to gain from another practical route for some payments.
The benefits will depend on costs, competition and access. A cheaper network might leave customers with little saving if intermediaries retain the gains. Smaller providers might struggle to compete if a few dominant businesses control the customer relationship. Participating countries might obtain access without much influence over the rules.
UPI and Pix have changed how people pay at home. Extending that convenience across borders requires agreements on currency conversion, funding and accountability that national systems do not have to negotiate internationally.
For the person holding the phone, the expectations are straightforward: a clear price, a known amount received and confirmation that the money has arrived.
BRICS has endorsed the ambition. Its members still have to agree how to deliver it.