The international interbank information transfer and payment system in national currencies, BRICS Pay, will test corporate settlements without a long chain of intermediary banks in the second half of 2027. This was announced by Andrey Mikhailishin, CEO of the Moscow-based company "BRICS Pay" (the operator of the BRICS Pay system).

Current cross-border payments often pass through several banking organizations. Each of them audits the payment and may charge a commission, which increases costs and transaction processing time. BRICS Pay will provide companies with the opportunity to make direct settlements. On the one hand, this will reduce dependence on intermediaries, but it does not mean abandoning cooperation with credit organizations. Banks will still be responsible for currency operations and control.

The new mechanism is based on the decentralized interbank messaging system DCMS. Essentially, banks will exchange transaction data through a single network without a central control, said Kirill Komalenkov, Director of Strategic Communications at Bitbanker. After the operation is confirmed, credit organizations complete the settlement in national currency.

This scheme also uses a closed blockchain network. This refers to a secure data storage system where payment information is recorded by several participants and confirmed by cryptographic mechanisms. It can be used to synchronize transaction information.

Oleg Abelev, Head of the Analytical Department at "Rikom-Trust," explained how BRICS Pay works with an example. If a Russian company needs to transfer funds to a Chinese company, and a Chinese company needs to transfer funds to a Russian company, the system does not conduct 2 separate payments. BRICS Pay will net off the reciprocal obligations, and banks will transfer the difference to the companies. This type of mutual settlement will reduce the number of operations, he concluded.