The article addresses the puzzle of how the BRICS members are able to overcome institutional constraints and make progressin establishing the New Development Bank (NDB) in a short period of time from its conception. It argues that the club dynamicsamong the members help circumvent intra-BRICS conflict due to the embedded mutual common interest in statusattribution. Club dynamics also create an informal institutional platform for them to manoeuvre through intra-BRICS competitiveinterests by taking a symbolic stake in the bank’s development. Club diplomacy also downplays contentious issueswhile elevates and reinforces the issues of their common interest. Such an approach is tested, however, when the focus shiftsfrom externalized demands to collective action as a small group. Calls for reform in the global system notably through a moreequitable distribution of voice and influence in the international financial institutions (International Monetary Fund andthe World Bank) further consolidated the club-like culture among BRICS members. At the same time, the push for a boldinitiative of their own, such as the establishment of the NDB with the promise of massive infrastructure investment targetedat other countries in the global South, demonstrates the symbolic need to move beyond the status quo.