Payments Canada has published updated Lynx ISO 20022 message specifications and a companion set of industry guidelines on formatting ISO 20022 messages between financial institutions, aimed at supporting transition planning ahead of the scheduled end of MT and MX message coexistence in November 2025, when some MT messages will no longer be supported. The guidelines introduce a hybrid postal address option developed by Swift’s Payment Market Practice Group, combining structured elements (town name and country) with unstructured address line fields to provide a grace-period approach for firms that currently hold unstructured address data. Payments Canada also highlights that moving to more structured address formats can reduce errors and improve automation and data extraction, supporting compliance processes such as sanctions screening and anti-money laundering monitoring, and the broader guidance is intended to help financial institutions and their clients and service providers prepare for Swift’s shift to MX messaging using the XML protocol.
Payments Canada 2025-04-16
Payments Canada releases updated Lynx ISO 20022 guidelines to prepare members for November 2025 end of MT and MX coexistence
Payments Canada has released updated Lynx ISO 20022 message specifications and guidelines to aid financial institutions in transitioning from MT to MX messaging by November 2025. The guidelines include a hybrid postal address option developed by Swift’s Payment Market Practice Group, combining structured and unstructured elements. Payments Canada emphasizes that adopting structured address formats can enhance error reduction, automation, and compliance processes.