Swift launches blockchain ledger as BRICS Pay eyes September rollout

Swift launched a blockchain-based shared ledger on Thursday with 17 banks, including UBS, Citi, and HSBC , to enable 24/7 cross-border payments.swift+1
The BRICS bloc is targeting full operational deployment of BRICS Pay at the 18th summit in New Delhi on Sept. 12-13, linking national payment systems for local-currency transactions.riotimesonline+1
Economist Jim O'Neill told Reuters that BRICS alternatives to the dollar are "no longer a fantasy," but the bloc has delivered more symbolism than policy.reuters

The race to reshape global cross-border payments is accelerating on two fronts. The BRICS bloc is pushing toward an operational launch of BRICS Pay at the 18th leaders' summit in New Delhi, scheduled for September 12-13, even as SWIFT unveiled a blockchain-based shared ledger this week with 17 major banks preparing to test live transactions.

A Decentralized Challenge to Dollar Dominance

BRICS Pay is designed as a decentralized messaging and settlement layer connecting existing national payment systems — India's Unified Payments Interface, China's Cross-Border Interbank Payment System, Russia's System for Transfer of Financial Messages, and Brazil's Pix — to enable cross-border transactions in local currencies. A prototype was tested in Moscow in October 2024, demonstrating capacity of 20,000 transactions per second. The system remains in a pilot phase, with a phased rollout underway through 2026 beginning with foreign tourist payment access in BRICS nations before expanding to CIS countries and the Middle East.aerapass+1

Full operational deployment is targeted for the September summit in New Delhi, where India, as the 2026 BRICS chair, will oversee a gathering focused on resilience and innovation. Jim O'Neill, the economist who coined the BRIC acronym, told Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation this month that building alternatives to the U.S. dollar is "no longer a fantasy," though he acknowledged the bloc has delivered "symbolism" more than concrete policy beyond the creation of the New Development Bank.riotimesonline+2

SWIFT's Counter-Move

SWIFT announced on Thursday that its blockchain-based ledger is ready for initial use, with 17 banks across six continents — including UBS , BNP Paribas, Citi Citigroup Inc. , HSBC , BNY The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation , and Wells Fargo — preparing to pilot live transactions using tokenized deposits. The ledger, developed in nine months, aims to enable round-the-clock cross-border payments including overnight and on weekends, with final settlement through existing systems.coindesk+2

The timing was hard to miss. SWIFT, which underpins messaging for more than 11,500 financial institutions worldwide, is also rolling out a separate payments scheme in 2026 designed to make international transfers as seamless as domestic ones.reuters+1

The Gap Between Ambition and Infrastructure

Analysts caution that the actual de-dollarization underway is happening through existing national systems rather than a single new architecture. China's CIPS processed 175.49 trillion yuan in 2024, a 24 percent year-over-year increase, while India's UPI International is now live in eight countries. The mBridge multi-central-bank digital currency platform, backed by the Bank for International Settlements, has processed over $55.5 billion in cross-border transactions, though the digital yuan accounts for 95 percent of its volume.aerapass

Whether BRICS Pay can deliver a working, integrated alternative by September — or whether the realistic path remains a patchwork of bilateral arrangements — is the question that will define the summit in New Delhi.

Sources (27)