The defining feature of BRICS Pay is the rejection of physical cards. Every operation runs through a digital wallet on a smartphone. Sounds minor — but in fact it’s a huge systemic decision affecting users, businesses and national economies. Let’s look at why and who benefits.
Why “without cards” at all
A bank card is a mid-20th-century technology. The first ones appeared in the 1950s (Diners Club, 1950; American Express, 1958), and over 75 years almost nothing has changed: a plastic rectangle with a magnetic stripe or chip that goes into a reader.
The world, however, has changed. Everyone has a computer in their pocket — more powerful than the computers that sent humans to the Moon. That computer has a camera, biometric sensors (fingerprint, Face ID), 24/7 mobile internet. Why would we still need a plastic intermediary between smartphone and merchant?
Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay already offer a digital alternative — but they are “wrappers” around existing Visa and Mastercard cards. The card is still issued, the fees still go to card networks.
BRICS Pay takes the next step: the digital wallet works directly with a bank account, without needing the card itself. You link a card once — not because there is no other way, but because in most countries bank accounts are tied to cards and that is the simplest way to identify the account. As CBDCs mature, BRICS Pay will be able to talk directly to central-bank digital currencies — no card at all.
The BRICS Pay digital wallet: mobility and convenience
Research shows that around 90% of transactions in BRICS countries are made in cash or with bank cards. That creates significant operating costs — for everyone:
- For banks — producing and servicing cards costs money. One chip-card costs the bank USD 2–5 to issue, plus delivery, replacing lost cards, processing cashbacks.
- For merchants — POS terminals, acquiring fees, network maintenance. Each card transaction costs the shop 1.5–3% of the amount.
- For users — cards get lost, broken, expire. Replacement takes 1–2 weeks. Lose a card on holiday — and you can’t buy anything or check into a hotel.
- For states — cash needs expensive infrastructure (ATMs, cash-in-transit, money printing). Estimates put cash handling at around 1.5% of Russia’s annual GDP.
BRICS Pay aims to cut these costs by providing a fully digital platform that supports only electronic operations through a smartphone. Dropping cards gives a system where data and transactions are protected by blockchain, ensuring strong protection and fast processing.
Benefits of a fully digital system
| Benefit | Description |
|---|---|
| Savings on card production | Eliminating plastic lets BRICS countries save on card issuance and servicing. Russia alone issues around 50M Mir cards — that’s tens of millions of dollars a year. |
| Lower transaction costs | The digital format cuts cross-border-transfer costs. Expert estimates: up to USD 15 bn in annual savings across all intra-BRICS trade. |
| Instant access to funds | Average transaction time falls from days to minutes. Especially important for businesses — capital turnover improves. |
| Higher security | Blockchain reduces fraud risk and secures all data. A card can be lost or stolen — a smartphone with biometrics is much easier to protect. |
| Support for national systems | Compatibility with Mir (Russia) and UPI (India), integration with UnionPay, ELO. No need to rebuild national payment infrastructure. |
| Eco-friendly | Less plastic — less waste. Around 6 bn cards are issued globally each year, most go to landfill on expiry. A digital wallet needs no plastic at all. |
What changes for users in real life
In short, the digital wallet changes three everyday scenarios.
1. Travelling abroad
Before: you’d wonder which cards to take, whether the bank would block transactions abroad, whether you’d pay conversion fees, where to find an ATM with a decent rate. Lose a card — full disaster: block it urgently, wait for a new one, use cash.
Now: install the app, link your usual card, pay by QR everywhere. If something happens to the phone — install the app on a new one, log in with credentials, biometrics and passcode, everything is restored. Money is held in the system, not the phone — losing the device does not mean losing the money.
2. Domestic shopping
Before: take card out of wallet, insert into terminal, wait, sometimes type a PIN. On a street or in public it also carries risk — your card can be skimmed.
Now: open the app, scan QR — paid. The whole operation — 3–5 seconds. No physical card handover, no contact with a potentially compromised terminal. And nicely, even if your phone dies, all payment history stays in the app and you can view a copy from another device.
3. Family finances
Before: every family member needs their own card (with its fees), separate accounts for minor children are hard to set up, controlling a teenager’s spending — a whole drama.
In a digital system: an extra account is set up in a minute, limits in the app, kids’ purchases visible in the family history. This is no longer a “new gimmick” — for example India’s UPI has had this mode since 2022.
Global interest in BRICS Pay
Against rising demand for affordable, secure cross-border solutions, more than 20 countries, including Türkiye and Nigeria, have already shown interest in the BRICS Pay platform. Potential expansion to a wider community indicates that the world is ready for change in international-payment infrastructure.
The global digital-payments market is forecast to grow to USD 12.3 trillion by 2027, and systems like BRICS Pay will play an increasing role. Cards aren’t evil, and they’ll be with us for a long time. But “card without card” — a mobile wallet without physical plastic — is the obvious future, and BRICS Pay is building it now.