Money provenance certificate

A provenance certificate is a signed record attached to one payment or one defined allocation of a balance: amount, currency, originating economic activity, the parties, evidence references by content hash, the scope and depth of verification, issuer, assessment time, expiry, policy version and revocation status. Face value never changes: a certificate says what is evidenced about where money came from, never what money is worth. The bank issues certificates after verification it has actually performed through lawful access; other authorised institutions verify the signature and the policy version, and may challenge. A salary certificate binds a payroll credit to employment evidence; a gift certificate binds a credit to a documented donor source; a loan certificate binds a drawdown to its agreement; credit origination is a legitimate origin by construction. Signatures prove who issued and that nothing changed, not that the claim is true, so every certificate states its verification scope and what remains unknown. One document counts once: evidence identity is its content hash plus the economic event it attests. The customer sees every certificate on their money, can add evidence, challenge an assessment and receive a decision with reasons. Counterparties receive only the attestation they need, never the customer's history. Rules that apply: MLRs 2017 reg 28 and 33; FCA SYSC 6.3; UK GDPR art 22 and DUAA 2025 safeguards for automated decisions; BIS: payments at par.