BRICS member India is strengthening its CBDC mobile payment ties with many more countries for cross-border transactions. Bloomberg reported that India is partnering with multiple countries in South Asia to process mobile payment systems. The countries include the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and its BRICS counterpart the United Arab Emirates (UAE). T Rabi Sankar, Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) confirmed the development at the conference in Cebu, Philippines.

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In addition, BRICS member India has already maintained the CBDC payment agreement with Bhutan and Nepal. The RBI is collaborating with ASEAN countries to integrate the platform for all like-minded nations. For the uninitiated, India is among the first countries in the world to successfully launch the pilot batch of the CBDC testing.

BRICS country India is assessing the possibilities of launching the CBDC digital currency for government, retail, and institutional usage. It is also studying the impact a CBDC currency could have on the overall economy, banking systems, and monetary policies. When asked about when the CBDC digital currency could be launched, Sankar said that India is not in a hurry. “We are in no hurry to roll it out immediately. Once we have some visibility of what the outcome or impact will be, we’ll roll it out. We don’t keep a specific timeline for that.”

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BRICS: CBDC Payments Are the Future of Trade & Commerce

India is ahead of the curve in the CBDC testing phase and could launch the mechanism before other countries. Out of 198 countries in the world, around 134 nations are working towards the formation of a CBDC currency. Almost all BRICS countries, including India, Russia, and China, are looking to launch their own CBDC digital currency.

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The US and other leading Western countries are much behind in terms of forming a new CBDC currency. Read here to know how the US dollar will be at risk of collapse if BRICS and other developing countries begin trading in CBDC digital currencies and not the US dollar.