Number of SWIFT users compared to other payment systems in Russia 2012-2020

Cross-border payment system SWIFT is not used as often in Russia as domestic systems BRPS or NSD - although user numbers declined for all three systems. The differences are likely caused by the purpose of the different systems: SWIFT, for example, deals with (cross-border) financial information exchange. It makes money transfers between financial institutions possible by way of transmitting a message that announces an impending transactions. BRPS or the Bank of Russia Payment System, however, is a system that handles payment settlements - or the actual money transfer. Russia does have its own domestic messaging system like SWIFT - called SPFS - but no concrete figures are provided for this system.