Market size of SWIFT compared to other payment systems in Russia 2012-2020
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The number of messages that Russian banks receive or send through international payments system SWIFT is roughly 10 times smaller than domestic transactions. Russia's payment system consists of several elements, of which SWIFT is but one part. The most important element - BRPS or the Bank of Russia Payment System - effectively handles domestic payment settlements in, for example, government payments. It consists of three components: The system for intraregional electronic payments (VER), the system for interregional electronic payments (MER), and the Banking Electronic Speedy Payment system (BESP system). SWIFT, on the other hand, refers to (cross-border) financial information exchange. The system does not send funds itself, but ensures the transmission of messages between financial institutions. This is similar to the cryptocurrency Ripple (XRP) - which provides a payment transaction framework rather than actively transferring payments itself. Russia does have its own domestic alternative to SWIFT - SPFS - but no concrete figures are provided for this system.
