HVPS+: ISO 20022 in high-value payment systems
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HVPS+ is the set of ISO 20022 usage guidelines for high-value payment systems: the real-time gross settlement (RTGS) systems in which banks settle large and urgent payments in central bank money. It uses the same pacs and camt messages as CBPR+, so a payment can move from a cross-border chain into a domestic RTGS system with little change of data.
What HVPS+ is
A high-value payment system (HVPS) settles payments between its member banks one by one, usually in central bank money. Examples are T2 for the euro, Fedwire Funds for the US dollar, CHAPS for sterling and Lynx for the Canadian dollar. Each system has its own rulebook and its own message usage guidelines.
HVPS+ is a common usage guideline for these systems, published in Swift MyStandards next to CBPR+. A market infrastructure can base its own guidelines on HVPS+ and add local rules. Always check the guidelines of the system you send to: HVPS+ tells you the common shape, the system tells you the final rules.
HVPS+ and CBPR+ side by side
Because both guidelines use the same messages with one transaction each, a bank can take the data of an incoming CBPR+ pacs.008 and send it on in the local RTGS system without squeezing it into a shorter format, as it once had to between MT and local formats.
| CBPR+ | HVPS+ | |
|---|---|---|
| Community | Correspondent banks exchanging cross-border payments over Swift | Members of a high-value payment system (RTGS) |
| Settlement | Across accounts banks hold with each other (settlement methods INDA, INGA, COVE) | Across accounts at the payment system, usually in central bank money (settlement method CLRG) |
| Customer transfer | pacs.008 | pacs.008 |
| Bank-to-bank transfer | pacs.009 and pacs.009 COV | pacs.009 and pacs.009 COV |
| Reject and return | pacs.002, pacs.004 | pacs.002, pacs.004 |
| Transactions per message | One | One |
| Who adds local rules | Swift and its community | Each market infrastructure in its own guidelines |
High-value systems on ISO 20022
| System | Currency | ISO 20022 |
|---|---|---|
| MEPS+, Singapore | SGD | Like-for-like ISO 20022 messages from August 2022 |
| T2 (Eurosystem) | EUR | Live on 20 March 2023 with ISO 20022 messages |
| HVCS, Australia | AUD | Migrated in March 2023 |
| HVCS, New Zealand | NZD | Migrated in March 2023 |
| Lynx, Canada | CAD | ISO 20022 introduced in 2023, full transition in November 2025 |
| Fedwire Funds, United States | USD | Migrated on 14 July 2025 |
| CHAPS, United Kingdom | GBP | Uses ISO 20022; enhanced data such as LEIs for payments between financial institutions mandated from 1 May 2025 |
What this means for operations
- Settlement in an RTGS system is final once the system books it, so rejects (pacs.002) come before settlement and anything after needs a return (pacs.004). The status reason codes and return reason codes are the same lists as in CBPR+, though a system may allow only some of them.
- Payment purpose and legal entity data that was optional in MT is often required by the system, for example LEIs or purpose codes in CHAPS. Purpose values come from the purpose code set and the category purpose set.
- Statements and notifications from the system usually come as camt.053 and camt.054, and liquidity and system messages use other camt messages defined in each system's guidelines.
- The UETR received in a cross-border pacs.008 travels on in the domestic leg, so the payment can be followed end to end.
Questions
- What does HVPS+ stand for?
- High-Value Payment Systems Plus: the common ISO 20022 usage guidelines for real-time gross settlement and other high-value payment systems.
- What is the difference between HVPS+ and CBPR+?
- They use the same messages. CBPR+ sets the rules for cross-border payments between banks on Swift; HVPS+ sets the common rules for payments inside high-value payment systems, which each system then adapts in its own guidelines.
- Does every RTGS system follow HVPS+ exactly?
- No. Each market infrastructure publishes its own usage guidelines. Many align with HVPS+, but local rules on mandatory data, code values and message flows differ.
- When did Fedwire move to ISO 20022?
- The Fedwire Funds Service migrated to ISO 20022 on 14 July 2025.
- When did T2 go live?
- The Eurosystem's T2 system went live on 20 March 2023, using ISO 20022 messages.