What is an Electronic Signature

What is an Electronic Signature?

We live in the era of digital transformation. The upgrading technology calls for more efficient and hassle-free ways to engage in transactions. One such prominent technology upgrade is observed in the form of an electronic signature. These signatures provide agility and cost-effectiveness that drive successful business outcomes.

Defining e-Signature

According to current U.S. legislation and the Electronic Signature & Records Association (ESRA), electronic signatures are defined as, “ an electronic sound, symbol or process that is attached to or logically associated with a record and executed or adopted by a person with the intent to sign the record.”

It is an electronic confirmation of a person accepting the terms of the contract or data collection associated with the signature. It consists of an electronic sound, symbol, or process linked to a record. Hence this wide range of digital signatures enables e-signing software to provide multiple ways of capturing them.

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An electronic signature is also accepted in legal terms to indicate a person’s intent to agree to the content of the document they have signed.

Electronic signatures help companies to complete their documentation process in an effective and time-saving manner. These signatures help reduce the overall time essential for closing deals as the documentation reaches the client’s inbox in a couple of minutes. It aids individual companies to arrive sooner at a decision. Electronic signatures are also beneficial for small businesses to carry out efficient transactions and deals with large companies with reduced turnaround times for signature.

E-signature vs Digital Signature vs Wet Signature

E-signature can be any electronic proof of identification like an ATM pin or just a click on “agree” or “disagree” or a typed name on an electronic form or document.

A digital signature is a cryptographic signature which is the most secured form of electronic signature.

Wet signature is the traditional handwritten signature. Name seals are also considered wet signatures as they are created with wax or ink.

E-signature-Digital-Signature-Wet-Signature

Types of Electronic Signature

The eIDAS regulation passed by the European Commission in 2014 came into effect in July of 2016, unifying the laws of the EU member states. It created a single framework that applies throughout the EU. eIDAS defines three types of e-signatures, namely ‘simple,’ ‘advanced,’ and ‘qualified’ electronic signatures, based on the requirements they meet.

Hence e-signing software must offer compliance to all three types of digital signatures as per the client requirements.

Simple Electronic Signature

Advanced-Electronic-Signature

Physically signing a document and exporting a scanned copy via email or any other electronic means can be considered a simple electronic signature. It also involves accepting the terms and conditions of a website.

Often it is not officially binding as there is only a logical association between the sender account and the signature. There is no valid proof of determining who has signed the document.

Hence this signature is known as a simple digital signature as it doesn’t offer much security to the user.

It is easier to design an e-signing software for simple digital signatures comparing to the other two signatures.

Advanced Electronic Signature

Advanced-Electronic-Signature

Following are the requirements that need to be fulfilled by an advanced e-signature-

  • It must have a unique link to the signer.
  • It must allow identifying the signer
  • It must give authority to the signer to maintain control
  • It must be linked to the data in a way that the changes made in the document must be noticeable

An advanced electronic signature provides a higher level of security than a simple e-sign. E-signing software has to comply with the above conditions to create an advanced electronic signature.

Qualified digital signature

Qualified-Digital-Signature

It is an advanced electronic signature that makes use of a qualified signature device for creating signatures. It is created based on a qualified electronic certificate to make it more genuine and authentic. An e-sign for electronic documents like National Identity documents, encrypted cards containing e-sign, and certificates, are a few examples of qualified e-sign.

Security and sanctity of data are the prime focus of an e-signing software offering qualified digital signatures. Thus, selecting the best e-signing software for creating this signature is essential.

How are e-Signatures Beneficial?

Extremely cost-effective

Cost-Effective

According to a study commissioned by Adobe for 1,051 U.S. managers of large, medium, and small scale businesses, 61% of managers said, “working digitally saves on costs; 98 percent of respondents noted they still use paper in their contract transactions.

In comparison, to the resources required for these processes, it was noticed, that in the U.S., on average, “every office worker uses more than 10,000 sheets of paper per year, which is about 2 cases of paper per employee. With an average price of $40 for a case of standard copy paper, this is an $80 annual cost per employee.”

This cost does not even account for the cost of ink, printers, repairs, storage, and other essentials. Documents with an electronic signature take up negligible space compared to physical paperwork. Furthermore, the use of e- signatures also cuts down cost expenditure on paper, ink, and postages.

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Efficient

Efficient

The introduction of e-signatures has eliminated all the paperwork that required days to complete a process. Hence, they are very efficient as they complete the task in a few minutes that could have taken days to complete. Hence, the document turnaround times have become faster

According to one study, “the average document processing time was slashed from five days to 37 minutes after the introduction of e-signatures.”

Thus, gone are the days when wet signatures required appointments and tedious printing and scanning processes.

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Reduced documentation errors

reduced

The research published by AIIM states that “81% of respondents saw a positive return on investment within twelve months of adopting e-signature software. A quarter of those asked said they saw a payback from e-signature solutions within three months.”

Improved ROI (Return on Investment)

ROI

The Forrester report suggests that “ e-signature apps reduce the total number of mistakes by an average of 80%.” e-signature software can aid managers, legal experts, and writers by automating workflow and ready to use of content libraries and templates.

Other Prime Benefits that Help Companies Complete the Documentation Process Faster

  • Increased Customer Loyalty
  • Increased Approvals
  • Higher Security Compliance
  • Greater Feasibility
  • Environment Friendly

Applications of e-Signature

Electronic signature usage applies to all sectors of industry:

Sales-Marketing

Sales and Marketing

Research

Research

HR-Procedure

HR Procedures

Administration

Administration Department

Legal

Legal Department

Customer-Care

Customer Service

Conclusion

An electronic signature has certainly, changed our perception regarding the tiered documentation processes. MSB Docs offer hassle-free ways to manage workflows with their e-signing software.

Interested to know more about how MSB Docs’ e-signing software will help your business? Get in touch today.