Claim: 159 countries have signed up to use a payment system developed by the BRICS member countries that enables cross-border transactions using their national currencies.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The TikTok video containing the claim has 827,800 views, 55,500 likes, 4,413 shares, and 7,423 comments as of writing.

Text in the video states: “BREAKING: 159 out of 193 countries have signed up to use the new BRICS settlement system. [The] US and European Union will no longer be able to use economic sanctions as [weapons].”

The video seems to be referring to BRICS Pay, a payment system proposed by the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) to enable trade using their own currencies. This move is in response to what BRICS sees as unfair sanctions restricting countries like Russia and Iran from using global financial systems dominated by the US dollar.

The facts: The 159 figure refers to institutions — not countries — connected to Russia’s System for Transfer of Financial Messages (SPFS), not BRICS Pay.

The false claim originated from an incorrect report by Russia Today (RT), which misquoted a Russian official’s statement and falsely stated that 159 countries would adopt the BRICS payment system. The official said that 159 “participants” had adopted the SPFS, which Russia uses as an alternative to the SWIFT interbank payments system. 

Despite RT issuing an apology and removing the report in August 2024, the false information continues to circulate, with several articles still perpetuating the claim. AFP Fact Check has also published an article debunking the false claim. 

Financial systems: After Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea triggered the threat of expulsion from SWIFT, Moscow created SPFS as an alternative system to avoid being completely cut off from global financial transactions. 

In 2022, the European Union (EU) and its allies suspended several Russian banks from the SWIFT system due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, disrupting Russia’s ability to transfer funds across borders seamlessly.

Meanwhile, the members of BRICS proposed the creation of its own payment system, BRICS Pay, which would allow members to make and receive payments in their own currencies, making cross-border payments more efficient. However, there are concerns that BRICS Pay would allow participants to “circumvent USD as a payment intermediary by replacing it with blockchain technology and an alternative to the SWIFT financial payment system,” according to an analyst from the think tank American Action Forum.

BRICS Pay is currently still a proposal, with no confirmed timeline for when it will be operational.

Evading sanctions: Russia and other countries are exploring alternative cross-border financial instruments to reduce reliance on Western financial systems and potentially circumvent economic sanctions by the US and EU. 

However, David Asher, a Hudson Institute senior fellow, said in a VOA report that such an alternative payment system can still be subject to sanctions. – Marjuice Destinado/Rappler.com

Marjuice Destinado is a Rappler intern. She is a third-year political science student at Cebu Normal University (CNU), serving as feature editor of Ang Suga, CNU’s official student publication.

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