BRICS Pushes CBDC Links to Cut Cross-Border Costs

The BRICS bloc is pushing forward with talks to link national instant payment systems and central bank digital currencies, aiming to reduce the cost and friction of cross-border transactions. Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra confirmed that member countries are discussing connections between their domestic payment networks and digital currencies. The talks have not settled on a specific architecture or timeline. India, which hosts the 2026 BRICS summit, had already signaled earlier this week that CBDC interoperability would be on the official agenda.

At the core of the proposal is a reduction in intermediaries. If national systems can route payments directly, more commercial flows could bypass the correspondent banking network, cutting time and fees. The technical hurdles are steep. A Bank of Italy experiment recently found that the highest costs in cross-border transfers come from entering or exiting the digital system, not from the transfer itself. Any common architecture would need shared rules on settlement finality, regulatory compliance, privacy, and liquidity management.

The development gap among members is wide. China leads with the digital yuan, which processed 3.48 billion cumulative transactions worth $2.47 trillion through November 2025. Russia will require its major banks to offer digital ruble services starting September 1, 2026. India is running a pilot of the e-rupee alongside UPI, which recorded 23.66 billion transactions in July 2026. Brazil is exploring international connections for Pix. South Africa has taken a cautious stance on retail CBDC.