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NEWS
24
2023
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11
Harmonizing "wallets"? BRICS in action
Russia's Kommersant has learned from the Russian Direct Investment Fund that the BRICS countries (China, Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa - our note) are developing a unified payment system BRICS Pay (BRICS Pay). The fund is the coordinator of the financial services working group of the BRICS Business Council. Sources there added that it is ready to consider participating in the financing of the platform.
FILE PHOTO. (Visual China)
Russia's Kommersant has learned from the Russian Direct Investment Fund that the BRICS countries (China, Brazil, India, Russia, South Africa - our note) are developing a unified payment system BRICS Pay (BRICS Pay). The fund is the coordinator of the financial services working group of the BRICS Business Council. Sources there added that it is ready to consider participating in the financing of the platform.
Another participant of the working group, the deputy chairman of the Association of Banks of Russia, Oleg Pleskhin, revealed that one of the possible options for the implementation of the project - the launch of a specialized online wallet, which will integrate the payment systems of all BRICS member countries. With the help of mobile applications installed on smartphones, it will be possible to make payments for purchases in any BRICS country, regardless of the currency deposited in the customer's account. According to experts, the implementation of the project will help reduce dependence on transnational payment systems, which is especially urgent against the backdrop of growing geopolitical tensions.
Sergei Katrin, Chairman of the BRICS Business Council and President of the Russian Federation Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that at a meeting of the Russian Council held on February 19, the issue of developing a new BRICS international payment system was discussed, the Russian newspaper Kommersant reported on March 1st. The Russian side of the council includes the leaders of the Russian Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Foreign Economic Bank, the Russian Direct Investment Fund, Russian Railways and Rostechnologii.
The press service of the Central Bank of Russia told Kommersant that collaboration with the regulators of the Eurasian Economic Union, BRICS and SCO countries is underway within the framework of the development of a unified payment space, including in the realization of the integration of national payment card systems. However, the issue of launching a unified online wallet has not been discussed yet. The Ministry of Finance stated that it had not received such an initiative. The National Payment Card System (NPCS), for its part, said that discussions on the integration of payment systems are ongoing, but the launch of a unified online wallet has not yet been discussed. The BRICS headquarters did not respond to the question about the integration of payment systems.
According to the report, the press service of the Russian Foreign Economic Bank confirmed that the topic of launching an online wallet was discussed at the meeting of the Russian Council of the BRICS Business Council. It aroused the interest of the participants, the latter agreeing that the issue needs to be scrutinized. However, the Russian Development Institute emphasizes that it is too early to say that FEIB will play some role in this issue.
According to the report, the plan is to use electronic means of settlement only for trade within the framework of the Eurasian Union. Alexander Murechev, Vice-President of the Union of Russian Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, noted that the organization views positively the integration of payment systems in partner countries. The settlement system will help to significantly reduce dependence on transnational payment institutions. This is especially urgent against the background of growing geopolitical tensions.
Alma Obayeva, President of the National Payments Council, a non-profit organization, added that the obstacles to curbing the development of retail trade among citizens of partner countries will be significantly reduced due to the emergence of unified services of different payment systems. It makes sense to create a unified supranational digital payment instrument for the Union, which will further simplify mutual settlement mechanisms.
The report describes that all BRICS countries except South Africa have their own national payment systems. They are Brazil's ELO, Russia's Mir, India's RuPay and China's UnionPay. According to the official data on the website of the organization, the payment system of Brazil issued 120 million national payment cards, Russia - 50 million, India - 500 million, and China - more than 6 billion.
Murechev said that the integration of payment systems is an urgent task not only for the BRICS countries, but also for the Eurasian Economic Union. The creation of a unified payment space of the Union is one of the priority directions of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs for 2019. The minutes of the latest meeting of the Advisory Council of the Eurasian Economic Commission show that the Council will discuss the issue of interfacing the payment systems of the Union countries. The agreement signed in February between the operators of the Belarusian payment system Belarusian Card and the Russian "Mir" card makes it possible to settle payments with both cards in the territories of the two countries as of this year. Vladimir Komlev, president of the Russian State Payment Card Company, has revealed that Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan will also start accepting Mir cards for payment.
The report notes that protection against possible sanctions is also imminent at the level of large companies and cross-border settlements. For example, as Kommersant previously reported, the intention is to promote a unified currency within the Eurasian Economic Union. The relevant proposal made by the Russian State Payments Council is supported by the Ministry of Finance. According to the concept, the currency will resemble the euro's predecessor, the ECU. The main difference is that the Eurasian Economic Union currency unit may be limited to use in mutual clearing operations between members of the Union and will not be developed into a conventional currency.
Editor: Ge Yan
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