It appears that the Russian and Chinese alternative payment systems may be in the process of merging:
Several Russian banks have joined the China International Payments System (CIPS), to ease operations between the two countries, according to a senior official at the Central Bank of Russia (CBR).
“As for the cooperation on payment systems, a range of banks are already connected to CIPS, allowing to facilitate payments routing procedure,” Vladimir Shapovalov, who heads a division dealing with foreign regulators at the CBR’s international cooperation department, said earlier this week during the international Russian-Chinese forum.
Given the fact that Italy recently joined the Chinese Silk Road trade initiative, this decision by Russian banks would appear to presage an eventual merger between CIPS and SPFS, which would make for a powerful, nuclear weapons-backed alternative to the US SWIFT system that the US has been using to impose its will upon countries everywhere from Africa and the Caribbean to Europe and Asia.
The USA destroyed earlier monetary challenges from Iraq and Libya, which only appears to have convinced Iran, China, and Russia of the need to work together in order to free themselves of the neo-liberal financial empire. This may be the first substantial sign of the end of U.S. empire, as we’ll know the beginning of the end has been officially reached when the EU and Switzerland abandon SWIFT in favor of whatever the rival new payment system ends up being called.