What identifiers should be preserved from a payment record?¶

When payment evidence first appears, small identifiers can determine whether the underlying records are later found.

Avoid this assumption: The amount, date and account holder’s name will be enough.

Preserve the complete record wherever possible, including information that appears repetitive, masked or technical.

For bank transfers, preserve the sending and receiving account details as displayed, sort codes or routing identifiers, IBANs, SWIFT or BIC codes, beneficiary names, payment references, transaction IDs, status and all visible timestamps.

For card payments, preserve the masked card number, card type, merchant descriptor, merchant location, amount, currency, authorisation code, transaction or retrieval reference, terminal or merchant ID, card-present or card-not-present indicator, and payment status.

For online payment services, preserve the account email, phone number, payment handle, user or merchant ID, linked transaction reference, funding source, receiving account, session or device information shown, and any dispute or reversal reference.

For cryptocurrency, preserve the full wallet addresses, transaction hash, asset and network, amount, timestamp, block or confirmation information, exchange or wallet account identifiers, deposit or withdrawal references and any destination tag, memo or payment ID.

Also record the evidence source. Note whether the identifier came from a bank statement, provider export, application screen, email, receipt, merchant record, device extraction or blockchain explorer. Capture the full screen or document rather than only the central transaction line.

Do not “clean up” an identifier. Keep leading zeros, prefixes, punctuation, upper- and lower-case characters, spaces where relevant and the exact displayed network or currency. A single changed character can point to a different account, wallet or transaction.

Where only a screenshot is available, retain the original image and record who supplied it, when it was obtained and whether any part was cropped or obscured.

If the payment may move across several services, preserve identifiers from every stage. These allow banks, merchants, processors, exchanges and specialists to reconcile their records.

Operational takeaway¶

Preserve the complete payment record and every visible account, instrument, transaction, provider and network identifier exactly as shown.