Source of Wealth Checks for Law Firm Clients: How to Automate Verification

Your conveyancing client needs a source of wealth verification before matter opening. You request bank statements and employment proofs. Three days later, you’re still chasing incomplete documents. The client sends outdated statements with missing pages. Your fee-earner spends billable hours reviewing partial evidence whilst the matter sits unopened.

Automated source of wealth checks solve this by connecting directly to client bank accounts through regulated open banking. Client consents via banking app, system retrieves transaction history showing income sources, verification completes within minutes. No document requests. No delays. No incomplete evidence creating compliance gaps.

Why Manual Verification Creates Operational Problems

Most law firms request clients to provide bank statements, payslips, and investment proofs manually. Clients delay gathering documents. Evidence arrives incomplete or outdated. Fee-earners waste billable time chasing and reviewing submissions.

What this creates:

• Delayed case opening – Conveyancing completions miss target dates whilst waiting for verification
• Lost billable hours – Fee-earners spend time on admin instead of client work
• Compliance risk – Incomplete files create AML audit vulnerabilities
• Poor client experience – High-net-worth clients question firms using manual processes

The fundamental issue: document-based verification depends on client responsiveness whilst consuming fee-earner capacity that should focus on legal work.

How Automated Verification Works

Open banking enables direct access to client bank transaction data with consent. The process:

1. Client receives secure verification link during onboarding
2. Authenticates through familiar banking app (not new passwords)
3. System retrieves historical transactions (up to 7 years available)
4. Income sources categorised automatically – salary, investments, property, business
5. Verification report generates for compliance files

Completion time: minutes instead of days waiting for client document submission.

What I’ve Seen Work in Practice

Working with law firms implementing automated verification reveals consistent patterns:

Manual collection creates bottlenecks clients control. Traditional requests depend on busy clients finding documents. Automated consent takes 2 minutes through banking apps they already use.

Evidence quality varies dramatically with submissions. Clients provide cropped statements or outdated documents. Direct bank data ensures complete, current information without client-introduced gaps.

Fee-earner review compounds across caseload. Each manual file requires reviewing submissions, identifying gaps, requesting more evidence. Automation flags income sources automatically-human review only for complex patterns.

Source of Funds vs Source of Wealth: Understanding the Difference

Law firms need both but they serve different purposes:

Verification Type	What It Proves	Typical Use
Source of wealth	How client accumulated total assets over time	Initial client onboarding
Source of funds	Where specific transaction money originated	Property deposit verification

Law firms typically verify source of wealth during onboarding, then source of funds for specific deposit payments. Automated systems address both through transaction analysis.

What to Evaluate in Verification Solutions

When selecting systems for law firm clients:

UK bank coverage – 99% coverage minimises manual fallbacks for unsupported banks

Historical access – Several years of data demonstrates long-term wealth accumulation patterns

Evidence export – Compliance audits require documentation integrating with client files

Simple integration – API connections to existing onboarding workflows without infrastructure rebuilds

Usage-based pricing – Pay per verification rather than fixed contracts for uncertain caseloads

How Finexer Enables Automated Verification

Finexer provides open banking connectivity for automated source of wealth checks on law firm clients. The platform connects to 99% of UK banks through FCA-regulated infrastructure.

Historical data extends up to 7 years for supported banks, enabling thorough verification. Simple API and dashboard interfaces integrate with existing client onboarding systems.

Pricing works on actual verifications performed rather than fixed fees. Law firms with variable caseloads pay for checks conducted without minimum commitments.

The platform provides 3-5 weeks of dedicated onboarding support helping verification workflows align with your compliance requirements and matter management systems.