Payments Canada publishes ISO 20022 messages for Lynx, Canada’s new high-value payments system
OTTAWA, June 15, 2020 - Payments Canada today announced the availability of ISO 20022 messages for Lynx, Canada’s new high-value payments system.
With the publication of ISO 20022 messages for Lynx, system participants can start preparing their existing applications to leverage the value of ISO 20022. Likewise, vendors who support Canada’s payments ecosystem can use the published messages to update their applications and develop new services for Lynx participants and the wider ecosystem. The ISO 20022 messages for Lynx also support Canadian financial institutions preparing to meet SWIFT’s ISO 20022 migration date for cross-border payments, expected to roll out at the end of 2022.
As a global financial messaging standard, ISO 20022 enables the clearing and settlement of data-rich payments among financial institutions worldwide through the use of a common set of messages that financial institutions agree to use in a consistent way. The expected benefits of ISO 20022 for financial institutions and their customers include access to enhanced remittance data, support for global interoperability, and a reduction in the use of paper-based payment options.
“The availability of ISO 20022 messages for Lynx is the result of extensive collaboration with key industry partners, including our financial institution members and regulators; it’s also an important milestone on our payments Modernization journey,” said Andrew McFarlane, Executive Director of Modernization at Payments Canada. “As a foundational layer of Canada's payments Modernization initiative, ISO 20022 will support interoperable cross-border exchanges, the introduction of new products and services, and the digitization of manual and paper-based processes related to invoicing and payment reconciliation.”
Lynx is a pivotal part of Payments Canada’s multi-system payments Modernization initiative aimed at transforming Canada’s payments ecosystem. The new system, which is expected to launch in 2021, will replace the Large Value Transfer System and process large value, time-critical payments with real-time settlement finality. ISO 20022 messaging will be supported in release two of Lynx. To learn more about the Modernization journey visit modernization.payments.ca, view our Modernization Delivery Roadmap 2019 Update and subscribe to our e-newsletter, The Exchange.
The ISO 20022 messages for Lynx and related information are available on Payments Canada’s ISO 20022 Resource Centre and SWIFT’s MyStandards web platform.
About Payments Canada
Payments Canada ensures that financial transactions in Canada are carried out safely and securely each day. The organization underpins the Canadian financial system and economy by owning and operating Canada’s payment clearing and settlement infrastructure, including associated systems, bylaws, rules and standards. The value of payments cleared and settled by Payments Canada in 2019 was over $55 trillion or $218 billion each business day. These encompass a wide range of payments made by Canadians and businesses involving inter-bank transactions, including those made with debit cards, pre-authorized debits, direct deposits, bill payments, wire payments and cheques. Payments Canada is a proud supporter of the Catalyst Accord and the 30% Club.
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