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An EnterpriseAM assessment detailed how the UAE’s sophisticated financial infrastructure and strategic location have elevated its importance within the expanding BRICS payment framework, which now includes the UAE alongside original members and recent additions such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and Saudi Arabia. The country’s Aani instant payment platform, operated by Al Etihad Payments, has grown to more than 12.5 million users by April 2026 and links with 74 financial institutions, according to a Khaleej Times report. This domestic stack has enabled the UAE to serve as a testing ground for cross-border connections, notably through its integration with India’s Unified Payments Interface that directly supports remittances along one of the world’s busiest corridors. The Central Bank of the UAE has further contributed technical expertise via participation in the mBridge multi-CBDC platform, a project that demonstrated real-time settlements across currencies.
BRICS Pay functions as an ecosystem connecting national payment infrastructures for use in travel, trade and daily transactions via QR codes, digital wallets or mobile applications, Al Jazeera reported on September 16, 2026. The system allows entities in member countries to settle deals in local currencies, bypassing intermediate conversions through the dollar or euro and thereby reducing friction and costs. A BRICS Business Magazine overview noted that the decentralized design preserves each participant’s sovereignty, with independent gateways ensuring that failure or blockage of one node does not halt the network. Integration plans outlined in the roadmap target full connectivity among BRICS+ nations by the end of 2027, beginning with pilots in the UAE, Egypt and Turkey in 2026.
Stablecoin trading volumes in the UAE for trade finance, remittances and B2B settlements increased more than 40 percent year-on-year in 2025, EnterpriseAM reported, citing the progressive regulatory environment as a key driver. Industry specialists explained that these instruments cut remittance fees by around 40 percent from the global average of 6.5 percent while accelerating processing from several days under legacy SWIFT rails to roughly 20 minutes. Visa data places the UAE as the third-largest sender of remittances globally last year, a status amplified by the fact that approximately 90 percent of its residents are expatriates who routinely transfer earnings to home countries across Asia, Africa and beyond. Such efficiencies directly support the UAE’s broader ambition to become a leading hub for digital asset and alternative payment flows.
At the BRICS summit in New Delhi this month, India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal called for member states to link their instant payment systems and conduct more trade in local currencies, Business Standard reported on September 12, 2026. The UAE has already established bilateral local currency settlement arrangements with India that allow direct rupee-dirham transactions for sectors including oil, gold and jewellery without routing through dollar clearing. These steps align with wider BRICS efforts to build a decentralized cross-border messaging system capable of handling thousands of transactions per second while mitigating exposure to external sanctions or payment exclusions. The Hindu noted that eliminating layers of correspondent banking through such linkages can generate measurable savings and faster capital turnover for businesses across the bloc.
The UAE’s regulatory framework, including the launch of its domestic card scheme Jaywan and the Buna cross-border platform headquartered in Abu Dhabi, has created a foundation for scalable participation in BRICS initiatives, according to multiple sector reviews. Experts have pointed to the country’s ability to balance relationships with both Western institutions and BRICS partners as a distinctive advantage that sustains its attractiveness for fintech investment and infrastructure development. As the network expands, the UAE is expected to see further growth in specialized services such as digital trade finance and instant settlement rails that reinforce its position at the intersection of emerging multipolar financial architectures.
