BRICS countries are discussing ways to connect fast-payment systems and central bank digital currencies to reduce the cost and increase the speed of cross-border transfers. Reserve Bank of India Governor Sanjay Malhotra said at the FICCI-IBA Annual Banking Conference in Mumbai on August 11, 2026 that the work remained at the discussion stage.
According to Malhotra, cross-border payments are an area of shared interest for BRICS members. Options under consideration include links between national fast-payment infrastructure and possible connections between central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs. His remarks did not announce an agreed technical model, an implementation timetable or a binding decision by the group.
BRICS now includes more countries than its original members of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Any shared payment connection would therefore require coordination across different regulatory systems and financial infrastructures. Malhotra’s statement confirms that talks are taking place, but it does not mean that a common network has already been approved or launched.
Reuters reported earlier in 2026 that the RBI had recommended placing a proposal to connect BRICS CBDCs on the agenda for the summit hosted by India. The August 11 statement also identified links between fast-payment systems as an option. The discussion therefore extends beyond digital currencies to the possible interoperability of payment infrastructure that already processes account-based transfers.
Business Standard reported from the conference that a BRICS task force was working on payments. Lower costs and shorter settlement times for cross-border retail transactions were presented as objectives. Malhotra referred to India’s Unified Payments Interface as an example of near-instant domestic transfers and questioned why international remittances can still require hours or days to complete.
The governor also said India would continue efforts to expand the use of local currencies in international trade and payments. He identified central-bank arrangements with the United Arab Emirates, Mauritius, the Maldives and Indonesia, while saying current volumes remained small. India was working on additional agreements intended to inform importers and exporters about using local currencies.
A fast-payment system and a CBDC are not the same instrument. Fast-payment infrastructure moves funds between existing accounts with rapid confirmation. A CBDC is a digital form of money issued by a central bank. Connecting either type across borders raises separate questions about technical standards, identity checks, regulatory compliance, liquidity, currency conversion and the governance of shared rules.
The announcement was not the launch of a single BRICS currency. The sources describe discussions about linking CBDCs or existing payment systems. They do not specify which members would participate, which currencies would be used for final settlement, who would operate a connection or when it might become available. Those details would be necessary before firm conclusions about users or businesses could be made.
The significance of the August 11 remarks is that a proposal previously described through sources is now openly acknowledged by the RBI governor as one of several options under discussion. A future summit agenda or formal decisions by member governments and central banks would be the next evidence of progress. For now, the verified position is that options are being discussed and no binding implementation decision has been announced.
