Banking
Source of funds
Also known as source of wealth, SoF
Source of funds is the documented origin of the specific money being placed into an account, and source of wealth is the documented explanation of how the customer's overall assets were accumulated. Financial institutions must establish both as part of customer due diligence.
In plain terms: Where this money came from, and how you came to have money at all. Two separate questions.
Why it matters
This is where most account applications actually fail. Compliance needs a chain of documents it recognises — contracts, invoices, accounts, a sale agreement, tax returns — and a founder paid through a processor into a US entity frequently has no single document that shows it cleanly.
Common misunderstanding
Assembling the evidence after the application stalls. Preparing it first is materially easier, and volunteering an awkward fact at the outset is far better received than the same fact discovered in month three.
Read the full guideBank accounts outside the US