Electronic signature is a secure, legal way of digitally signing documents that doesn’t require printing of documents.
Where traditionally, any process that needed a signature would involve printing the document to sign (sometimes multiple times) in wet ink, electronic signatures allow the document to be signed digitally through an app or form online and then sent to the necessary parties in the process.
It can save time, reduce the risk of fraud and create a better end-to-end digital experience for customers and ultimately, it can reduce printing.
Signatures are still needed to complete a lot of business transactions, from signing off expense reports and invoices to signing a new contract, and this can mean a lot of paper being printed, signed and stored, never to be looked at again.
It’s not even unheard of for someone to be sent a document via email, they print the document, sign it in wet ink and then scan the signed document to send it back via email. The whole process is digital, apart from the signature, which also could have been done digitally. This whole process wastes time and paper.
Why print paper to sign when you can complete agreements digitally?
Some businesses are adamant that documents should still be signed with wet ink, possibly because that’s how it’s always been done and possibly because they aren’t aware of the alternatives.
As shown above, wet ink signatures can disrupt a digital process and even cause delays.
Electronic signatures are often faster and more efficient than wet ink and the information is all stored securely and there isn’t a need to duplicate the document multiple times to be printed for different people, the document can be provided to those who need it.
Further still, there is the opportunity to make the electronic signature and verification part of an automated workflow, for example in the finance department. If your finance department is responsible for signing off invoices or expenses, it could be set up so that once an electronic signature has been given and verified, the next part of the process is automated. Effectively, the next step in the process is triggered by a valid electronic signature being received.
3 Benefits of Electronic signatures:
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Quick verification of signatures against previous records and identifying frauds straightaway.
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Improves customer experience by stopping the need to print and sign.
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Provides an end-to-end digital experience for the customers.
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Improves process efficiency and speed by cutting out delays caused by paper-based processes.
Legality, risk, compliance and fraud
Electronic signature is completely legal and secure. E-signatures meet rigorous industry standards and certifications and are legally admissible according to EU law.
Depending on the application, system or form used, there is often a comprehensive audit trail giving a timestamp of who viewed, signed or edited the document.
Taking security one step further, a fraud scoring engine can be combined with a few optional verification engines, resulting in a robust combined risk score for enhanced fraud detection.
With all of these checks and security measures in place, electronic signatures are legal, compliant and secure.
Find out more about electronic signatures and other ways you can digitally transform your business