Held at MAS: a MEPS+ payment short of RTGS-account funds
Trigger: Bank Alfa's RTGS account at the Monetary Authority of Singapore lacks the funds to settle a high-value MEPS+ payment.
What operations sees first: A same-day high-value payment does not settle instantly; it waits until the RTGS account is funded.
WHERE IS THE MONEY?
No money moved while held — Bank Alfa's account was untouched until cover arrived.
DID SETTLEMENT HAPPEN?
Settlement was deferred until the RTGS account was funded, then completed gross and irrevocable.
WHO ACTS NEXT?
Bank Alfa (sending bank) Bank Alfa keeps its RTGS account funded during operating hours so payments do not wait.
PLAY THE EXCEPTION
Trigger: Bank Alfa's RTGS account at MAS does not hold SGD 2,000,000.00 at the moment the instruction is checked.
Bank Alfa submits the payment to MEPS+
Bank Alfa (paying bank) → MEPS+ (Monetary Authority of Singapore)
Bank Alfa sends a high-value Singapore-dollar payment instruction to MEPS+, the MAS Electronic Payment System, to pay Nordbank. This is a message — nothing has moved yet.
Step 1 of 5: Bank Alfa submits the payment to MEPS+
- 02ProcessingMEPS+ checks Bank Alfa's RTGS accountMEPS+ (Monetary Authority of Singapore)
- 04 · EXCEPTION PATHProcessingBank Alfa moves funds into its RTGS accountBank Alfa (paying bank) → Monetary Authority of Singapore
- 05 · EXCEPTION PATHSettlementThe funded payment settlesBank Alfa (paying bank) → Nordbank (receiving bank)
- OUTCOME
- Funds
- Not yet moved to Nordbank; the payment is held until Bank Alfa funds its RTGS account, then it settles in full.
- Settlement
- Settlement waited on liquidity — the payment did not settle until the RTGS account was covered.
- Who acts next
- Bank Alfa (paying bank) — Bank Alfa moves funds from its MAS current account to its RTGS account so queued high-value payments can settle.
Full step-by-step text (works without JavaScript)
- 02ProcessingMEPS+ checks Bank Alfa's RTGS accountMEPS+ (Monetary Authority of Singapore)
MEPS+ checks whether Bank Alfa's RTGS account at MAS holds enough funds. An RTGS system settles one payment at a time and only when the paying bank has cover.
- 04 · EXCEPTION PATHProcessingBank Alfa moves funds into its RTGS accountBank Alfa (paying bank) → Monetary Authority of Singapore
Bank Alfa moves funds from its MAS current account into its RTGS account so the account can cover the outgoing same-day payment.
- 05 · EXCEPTION PATHSettlementThe funded payment settlesBank Alfa (paying bank) → Nordbank (receiving bank)
With cover in place in the RTGS account, MAS settles the payment across the two RTGS accounts, instantaneously and irrevocably.
- DR Bank Alfa's RTGS account at MAS — SGD 2,000,000.00
- CR Nordbank's RTGS account at MAS — SGD 2,000,000.00
- OUTCOME
- Funds
- Not yet moved to Nordbank; the payment is held until Bank Alfa funds its RTGS account, then it settles in full.
- Settlement
- Settlement waited on liquidity — the payment did not settle until the RTGS account was covered.
- Who acts next
- Bank Alfa (paying bank) — Bank Alfa moves funds from its MAS current account to its RTGS account so queued high-value payments can settle.
THE TIMELINE
- 01Bank Alfa (sending bank)Submits an SGD 2,000,000.00 MEPS+ payment for instantaneous gross settlement.
- 02MEPS+ (Monetary Authority of Singapore)Finds Bank Alfa's RTGS account lacks sufficient funds and holds the payment rather than settling it.
- 03Bank AlfaMoves funds from its MAS current account to its RTGS account to provide cover.
- 04Monetary Authority of SingaporeSettles the payment instantaneously and irrevocably across the RTGS accounts in central bank money.
Resolution: MEPS+ settles instantly only when the RTGS account is funded. Until then the payment is held, not rejected; once funded it settles gross and irrevocably.
Sources for this scenario2
- Official requirement
MEPS+ (MAS Electronic Payment System) ↗ — Monetary Authority of Singapore · RTGS account funding
MEPS+ settles gross and irrevocably in central bank money at MAS.
- Simplified educational illustration
Payments Signal editorial teaching models — Payments Signal
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.