BRICS Pay countries — who, when and why

BRICS started in 2009 as an alliance of five large emerging economies — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. In 15 years the bloc has doubled: by 2024 the UAE, Iran, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia had joined. Around a dozen more states hold “partner” status, and 32 countries have officially applied to join. This is no longer just an association of five states but a serious economic bloc covering more than a third of world GDP.

Founding members — the “classic five”

These states launched the BRICS Pay project in 2018 through the BRICS Business Council. Together they account for around 40% of the world population and 25% of the world economy.

🇧🇷 Brazil

The world’s eighth economy (nominal GDP ≈ USD 2.3 trillion). Currency — Brazilian real (BRL). Brazil’s landmark in payments is Pix, launched by the Central Bank of Brazil in November 2020. Pix is a national instant-payment system that has conquered the market in 5 years: by early 2025 it processed 49% of all cashless transactions in Brazil. One of the most successful mobile-payment rollouts in the world.

In BRICS Pay Brazil plays an important role as the financial-expertise hub of Latin America. President Lula da Silva at the 2025 BRICS summit in Rio de Janeiro endorsed the payment system as a tool of trade dedollarisation. Brazil is also developing DREX — the digital real, which will integrate with BRICS Pay through the CBDC bridge.

🇷🇺 Russia

The world’s sixth economy (PPP). Currency — rouble (RUB). Russia is the main “engine” of BRICS Pay, especially after the 2022 sanctions pressure when several major Russian banks were disconnected from SWIFT. That turned the question of an alternative payment infrastructure from theoretical into immediately practical.

Russia operates: the national card Mir (~50M cards in circulation), SBP (Bank of Russia’s faster-payments system, instant transfers by phone number), and SPFS (Bank of Russia’s Financial Messaging System — SWIFT backup, ~160 foreign participants from 20 countries). The technology core of BRICS Pay — DCMS — was designed by researchers at Saint Petersburg State University. The digital rouble is in active development.

🇮🇳 India

The world’s fifth economy and the fastest growing in BRICS. Currency — Indian rupee (INR). India leads in fintech innovation: the national UPI (Unified Payments Interface), launched in 2016, serves more than 500 million users — one of the largest payment projects in the world. The RuPay card network — about 500M cards.

India participates in BRICS Pay carefully: the country is in parallel pushing UPI as an independent global system (already running in the UAE, Singapore, France). Even so, the Reserve Bank of India in January 2026 proposed putting BRICS CBDC Bridge on the next summit’s agenda. Active development of the digital rupee (e-INR). India holds the BRICS chairmanship in 2026 (summit in New Delhi), which will set the pace of payment-system development.

🇨🇳 China

The world’s second economy. Currency — yuan (CNY). China is the largest trading partner of most BRICS countries. In payment infrastructure China leads: UnionPay — the world’s largest card network (over 6 bn cards, surpassed Visa by transaction volume back in 2015), WeChat Pay and Alipay — super-apps with billions of users, e-CNY (the digital yuan) — the world’s most advanced CBDC, in test since 2014.

China formally backed BRICS Pay on 23 October 2024 during the Kazan summit — a key moment for the project. Without the world’s second economy on board, large-scale rollout would be impossible. China is also the main participant in mBridge, the related CBDC infrastructure for BRICS Pay: e-CNY accounts for around 95% of all mBridge volume.

🇿🇦 South Africa

Africa’s most developed economy. Currency — South African rand (ZAR). South Africa was the first BRICS country without a domestic payment system — which is why the first BRICS Pay rollout stage in 2019 began there. Since 2023 the country has run PayShap — the national instant interbank system (analog of SBP and Pix).

South Africa serves as the gateway to Africa: Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe and others watch closely. If BRICS Pay works in South Africa, the chances of continent-wide expansion grow sharply.

Together these five countries represent around 40% of the world population and 25% of the world economy. Backing from such heavyweights makes BRICS Pay attractive to other states looking for alternative financial solutions amid shifting geopolitics.

New full members — 2024–2026 expansion

After the Kazan summit in October 2024 BRICS welcomed six new full members. Each brings a specific contribution: the UAE — a global financial hub, Iran — a strategic energy partner, Egypt and Ethiopia — keys to African and Middle Eastern markets, Indonesia — the largest Muslim economy, Saudi Arabia — the largest oil supplier.

🇦🇪 UAE — the regional financial hub

The United Arab Emirates is the main financial and logistics centre between Europe, Asia and Africa. Currency — UAE dirham (AED), pegged to the dollar. Dubai and Abu Dhabi are in the world’s top-15 financial centres. For Russians, one of the most popular tourism and business destinations after 2022 — hence UAE is a 2026 priority on the BRICS Pay roadmap.

🇮🇷 Iran — for whom BRICS Pay is especially important

Iran has been disconnected from SWIFT since 2018 due to US sanctions. For Iranian businesses and citizens BRICS Pay is not just convenience but a fix for a basic problem of access to international payments. Iranian authorities call the project a top priority of foreign-economic policy. Currency — Iranian rial (IRR).

🇪🇬 Egypt — bridge between Africa and Arabia

The largest Arab country by population (110M+). Strategic Suez Canal location makes it a transport hub. Currency — Egyptian pound (EGP). For Russians — a major tourism destination, so BRICS Pay integration with Egypt (planned for Q2 2026) is a key step.

🇪🇹 Ethiopia — gateway to East Africa

Africa’s second most populous country (120M+). One of the fastest-growing markets on the continent. Currency — Ethiopian birr. Adding Ethiopia to BRICS opens the bloc to a huge, under-served financial market in East Africa.

🇮🇩 Indonesia — the largest Muslim economy

Fourth most populous country in the world (280M+). Largest economy in Southeast Asia. Currency — Indonesian rupiah (IDR). Forecast to be the world’s fourth economy by 2050. Mature payment infrastructure: the national QRIS network (universal QR payments).

🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia — oil and financial weight

The world’s largest oil exporter. Currency — Saudi riyal (SAR), pegged to the dollar. Saudi Arabia’s entry into BRICS is a strategic win for the bloc: the country keeps close ties with the US while developing alternative payment channels.

Partner countries

Beyond full members, BRICS has the status of partner country — states actively participating in bloc initiatives without full membership. They can use BRICS Pay through business channels, open correspondent relationships with BRICS banks, take part in trade negotiations. As of 2025 there are ten partners:

Among partners, Belarus and Kazakhstan stand out — their integration with Russia makes them natural BRICS Pay participants for Russians travelling there. Malaysia and Thailand are major tourist destinations. Nigeria is Africa’s biggest economy.

Candidates — who comes next

Per the official BRICS portal InfoBRICS, as of 2025 32 states have declared intent to join, 23 countries have submitted formal applications, and 159 states have shown general interest in BRICS Pay (i.e. willing to participate even without bloc membership).

Special attention — Türkiye. Russia’s biggest trading partner in the region, with one of the most developed banking systems in the Muslim world. Full Türkiye accession to BRICS Pay could drastically simplify tourism and trade for Russians.

Supported national payment systems — at a glance

Each member country has its own national payment infrastructure — cards, banking networks, instant payments. BRICS Pay plugs into all of them as a “universal bridge”. Summary:

Country	Systems	Volume
Russia	Mir, SBP, SPFS	≈50M Mir cards, SBP — instant transfers by phone
India	RuPay, UPI	≈500M RuPay cards, 500M+ UPI users
China	UnionPay, IBPS, CIPS, e-CNY	6+ bn UnionPay cards (more than Visa); digital yuan in active testing
Brazil	ELO, Pix, DREX	120M ELO cards; Pix — 49% of cashless ops; DREX in development
South Africa	PayShap	Instant interbank payments since 2023
UAE	Mada, AANI	National payment networks
Indonesia	QRIS	Universal QR standard

What’s next

Expansion continues. By 2030 BRICS or partner status is expected to cover around 30 countries and BRICS Pay’s geography to span most of the developing world. That doesn’t mean the dollar or SWIFT will disappear — they’ll remain dominant for a long time. But there will be an alternative, and that’s the main value.