India–Russia payment systems near integration as currency trade grows
India and Russia have made significant progress in resolving challenges related to mutual settlements in hard currencies and are actively discussing the integration of their national payment systems. Linking these systems could allow seamless cross-border card transactions, bypassing Visa and Mastercard, which suspended operations in Russia in 2022. The integration of financial messaging systems would also provide an alternative to SWIFT.
“The banks of both countries are engaged in addressing the evident difficulties that have arisen in hard currency settlements,” said Denis Alipov, Russian Ambassador to India. “In recent years, we’ve achieved excellent results. Currently, 85% of our mutual trade is settled in national currencies.”
Ambassador Alipov emphasised that interbank cooperation has become a crucial and highly visible aspect of current India–Russia relations. ‘I won’t go into too much detail about specific projects, but we are discussing the interoperability of our payment systems, mutual acceptance of Russian and Indian bank cards, and the integration of financial messaging systems. There are many potential areas of collaboration,” he noted. “We’ve already made good progress on many fronts, and dialogue continues on all these matters.”
Furthermore, the ambassador pointed out that major Russian financial institutions are already operating in India, adding that Russia’s strong banking presence there promotes and facilitates expanded economic cooperation and supports the promotion of Russian goods in India, and vice versa.
Source: TASS