Five UK Source of Funds trends: What you need to know in 2025

The world of money laundering and regulation is always on the move. To keep your compliance process robust and reliable, it’s super important to understand the trends that are shaping how your clients manage their money. Based on our deep dive into over half a million Source of Funds (SoF) reports, we've spotted some key developments that are making due diligence a bit more complex these days.

Here are five trends to keep an eye on in 2025, and beyond.

1. Gifts from the 'bank of mum and dad' are still on the rise

Gifts from family and friends? More common than ever. Our data shows that just over 20% of SoF verifications include a declared gift - a trend that's clearly growing as the next generation of buyers step onto the property ladder. This adds an extra layer of complexity, as it means you're not just looking at the purchaser's funds, but also needing to understand where the giftor's money came from.

2. More transactions are proceeding without a mortgage

We've seen that over 20% of the SoF reports we reviewed had no declared mortgage. When a mortgage lender is in the picture, they're typically doing their own checks on a big chunk of the funds. But in a mortgage-free transaction, the responsibility to investigate the entire purchase amount falls squarely on you. That can really ramp up your workload. This trend can also shift pretty quickly; we saw a major spike at the end of 2024, probably because the stamp duty holiday had just wrapped up.

3. Cash deposits remain a persistent AML red flag

While most clients are not laundering money, cash transactions can sometimes be a red flag for funds from illegal sources. Our analysis shows this remains a sticky point:

• Almost 10% of checks have multiple cash deposits.

• 8% of checks include more than three separate cash deposits within the last six months.

• 9% of reports show average cash deposits of more than £500 at a time.

4. The 'multi-bank' client is the new norm

The way people bank has changed, big time, and having multiple bank accounts is common. In fact, the average person now has three bank accounts. And with the rise of neobanks, clients are using a much wider variety of account types than ever before. For professionals, this means collecting and analysing more bank statements from more diverse sources for just one transaction, adding to the complexity of the task.

5. Volatile government schemes add complexity for due diligence

Over the last decade, a sheer volume of government schemes have come and gone. The constant coming, going, and changing of these schemes creates a significant headache for professionals trying to create stable and repeatable processes.

Navigating change: why technology is your Source of Funds solution

With things changing so quickly, sticking to traditional, manual Source of Funds verification can leave you open to risk and really slow you down. To keep up, a great first step is reviewing your internal risk policies to make sure they cover modern situations, like those big gifts or clients buying without a mortgage. Regular training is also a brilliant way to help your team spot the red flags in these new trends.

Beyond policy, the key is consistency. That means making sure every client is asked the right questions from the start, covering all their accounts from high-street banks to neobanks. This is where technology helps. A dedicated platform can automatically bring together information from lots of different places into one simple report. It will instantly flag things you might otherwise miss, like multiple cash deposits or undeclared accounts. This frees up your team from admin and data entry, so they can focus on what they do best: assessing risk and making your compliance process work for everyone.