GLOBAL PAYMENTS KNOWLEDGEISO 20022 / SWIFT / SEPA / MT / MX
PAYMENTSSIGNAL

The interactive academy for the standards, messages, and rails that move money.

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LYNX (CANADA RTGS)

Queued in Lynx: a Canadian wire short of settlement balance

Trigger: Bank Alfa lacks the settlement balance at the Bank of Canada to cover a high-value Lynx wire.

Contributor Shubham Mathure

What operations sees first: A wire payment does not settle at once; it waits until the settlement balance covers it.

WHERE IS THE MONEY?

No money moved while queued — Bank Alfa's settlement balance was untouched until cover arrived.

DID SETTLEMENT HAPPEN?

Settlement was deferred until balance was available, then completed with real-time finality.

WHO ACTS NEXT?

Bank Alfa (sending bank) Bank Alfa manages its Bank of Canada settlement balance so wires do not queue.

PLAY THE EXCEPTION

Trigger: Bank Alfa's settlement account at the Bank of Canada does not hold CAD 900,000.00 when Lynx checks it.

STEP 1 / 5MESSAGE

Bank Alfa submits the Lynx wire payment

Bank Alfa (sending bank) → Lynx (Payments Canada) · FI to FI customer credit transfer (pacs.008)

The sending bank submits a high-value wire to Lynx as an ISO 20022 message, so rich remittance data travels with the payment. Nothing has settled yet — this is the instruction.

Step 1 of 5: Bank Alfa submits the Lynx wire payment

  1. 01Message
    Bank Alfa submits the Lynx wire paymentBank Alfa (sending bank) → Lynx (Payments Canada) · FI to FI customer credit transfer (pacs.008)
  2. 02Clearing obligation
    Lynx checks the settlement balanceLynx (Payments Canada) → Bank of Canada (settlement)
  3. 03 · EXCEPTION PATHMessage
    The payment is queued until coveredLynx (Payments Canada) → Bank Alfa (sending bank)
  4. 04 · EXCEPTION PATHProcessing
    Bank Alfa funds its settlement accountBank Alfa (sending bank)
  5. 05 · EXCEPTION PATHSettlement
    The queued payment settlesBank of Canada (settlement) → Nordbank (receiving bank)
  6. OUTCOME
    Funds
    The beneficiary is paid only once Bank Alfa funds settlement and the queued wire clears the Bank of Canada.
    Settlement
    Settlement waited on liquidity — the payment did not settle until the settlement account was covered.
    Who acts next
    Bank Alfa (sending bank) — Bank Alfa manages its intraday liquidity so high-value wires do not sit in the queue late in the day.
Full step-by-step text (works without JavaScript)
  1. 01Message
    Bank Alfa submits the Lynx wire paymentBank Alfa (sending bank) → Lynx (Payments Canada) · FI to FI customer credit transfer (pacs.008)

    The sending bank submits a high-value wire to Lynx as an ISO 20022 message, so rich remittance data travels with the payment. Nothing has settled yet — this is the instruction.

  2. 02Clearing obligation
    Lynx checks the settlement balanceLynx (Payments Canada) → Bank of Canada (settlement)

    Lynx clears the individual payment by checking that Bank Alfa holds enough settlement balance at the Bank of Canada to cover it. An RTGS system will not create money it does not have.

    In an RTGS, each payment clears on its own — there is no netting cycle to wait for before settlement.

  3. 03 · EXCEPTION PATHMessage
    The payment is queued until coveredLynx (Payments Canada) → Bank Alfa (sending bank)

    Rather than settling money it does not have, Lynx holds the payment in a queue until Bank Alfa's settlement balance can cover it.

  4. 04 · EXCEPTION PATHProcessing
    Bank Alfa funds its settlement accountBank Alfa (sending bank)

    The bank brings in incoming payments or moves liquidity so its settlement account at the Bank of Canada can cover the outgoing wire.

  5. 05 · EXCEPTION PATHSettlement
    The queued payment settlesBank of Canada (settlement) → Nordbank (receiving bank)

    With cover in place, the Bank of Canada settles the payment across the two settlement accounts, in central-bank money and with finality.

    • DR Bank Alfa's settlement account at the Bank of Canada — CAD 900,000.00
    • CR Nordbank's settlement account at the Bank of Canada — CAD 900,000.00
  6. OUTCOME
    Funds
    The beneficiary is paid only once Bank Alfa funds settlement and the queued wire clears the Bank of Canada.
    Settlement
    Settlement waited on liquidity — the payment did not settle until the settlement account was covered.
    Who acts next
    Bank Alfa (sending bank) — Bank Alfa manages its intraday liquidity so high-value wires do not sit in the queue late in the day.

THE TIMELINE

  1. 01Bank Alfa (sending bank)
    Submits a CAD 900,000.00 Lynx wire carrying ISO 20022 remittance data.
  2. 02Lynx (Payments Canada)
    Checks Bank Alfa's settlement balance at the Bank of Canada, finds it insufficient, and queues the wire rather than rejecting it.
  3. 03Bank Alfa
    Receives incoming Lynx credits or arranges funds so its settlement balance can cover the queued wire.
  4. 04Bank of Canada (settlement)
    Settles the released wire immediately after clearing, in central bank money, with real-time finality.

Resolution: The wire is deferred, not lost. Once the settlement balance covers it, Lynx settles it with real-time finality, immediately after clearing.

LEARN THE CONCEPTS

Sources for this scenario2
  1. Official requirement

    Lynx (high-value payment system) ↗ — Payments Canada · Lynx settlement

    Describes Lynx, Canadas high-value payment system operated by Payments Canada: a real-time gross settlement system in which settlement occurs immediately after the clearing of each individual payment, transferring central bank money between participants with real-time settlement finality; wire payments are fast and irrevocable, and Lynx supports the ISO 20022 messaging standard. · Checked 2026-07-14

    Lynx is Canadas RTGS wire system, overseen by the Bank of Canada, settling in central bank money with finality.

  2. Simplified educational illustration

    Payments Signal editorial teaching models — Payments Signal

    This site's own simplified teaching models. · Checked 2026-07-12

    What this simplifies: Single-cycle teaching model; participant-specific handling and exact timings vary.

    Used wherever diagrams, scenarios, figures, or example values are didactic constructions rather than sourced facts; every such use carries a simplifications disclosure. All people, companies, banks, and list entries in examples are fictional.