The BRICS Payment Task Force (BPTF) is an institutional platform for dialogue and knowledge exchange among central bank experts from the BRICS member states. It was formally established by BRICS leaders in the Moscow Declaration on November 17, 2020, to coordinate the development of a shared payment infrastructure. The BPTF was created to solve the problem of slow, costly, and non-transparent cross-border payments and to reduce the bloc's reliance on the US dollar and Western-dominated financial systems like SWIFT. The initiative for a BRICS payment system, known as BRICS Pay, was first launched by the BRICS Business Council in 2018.
The mechanism of the BPTF involves studying the cross-border interoperability of payment and messaging channels and promoting trade settlements and investments using the local currencies of BRICS countries. Its mandate covers two distinct tracks: achieving interoperability between national payment and financial-messaging systems, and developing the mechanics for settling trade in local currencies. The BPTF encourages practical solutions that are fast, low-cost, more accessible, efficient, transparent, and safe, while respecting national priorities and recognizing there is "no one-size-fits-all approach".
The BPTF connects directly to the broader BRICS Cross-Border Payments Initiative and the proposed BRICS Pay system, which aims to link existing national payment systems like India's UPI and Brazil's Pix. It is also related to the New Development Bank (NDB), which is encouraged to expand local currency financing. Recently, under India's chairship in 2026, the BPTF's work was encouraged to continue, building on the guidance from the Kazan and Rio Declarations. A key recent development is the push to link Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) of member states, such as the digital rupee (e-INR), through common technical standards, rather than focusing on a single BRICS currency.