A quick look at the legality of digital and electronic signatures and whether they’re valid in finance.
A quick look at the legality of digital and electronic signatures and whether they’re valid in finance.
Electronic and digital signatures are becoming a fixture in financial business institutions, replacing traditional signatures and speeding up processes and approvals. In this article, we’ll take you through the legality of e-signatures.
First, let’s take a look at their benefits and how they’re used.
Benefits of E-signing & How It’s Used in Finance
Using a digital document and signing solution can speed up and streamline your work and help you take your business to the next level. Not only can using a digital signature solution reduce turnaround time by up to 80%, but, according to Finance Online, financial institutions can reduce scanning errors by 92% and cut down missing files by 62%.
E-signing and digital document management are replacing a variety of tasks that were previously associated with paper-based processes. From signing contracts, forms, and agreements to creating accounts, and keeping digital trails and copies of important documentation, receipts, and invoices.
How Legal Are Digital & Electronic Signatures?
Electronic and digital signatures are as legally binding as traditional wet signatures. While traditional wet signatures were the most common form of signature, an increase in awareness of the legal acceptance of e-signatures and an increase in customers’ expectations for digital interactions has led to an uptake in the use of e-signatures in business.
However, it’s important to keep in mind that signature legality can vary depending on industry, country, state, and legal governing bodies. If unsure, always check in with your local laws or with a legal professional.
What About Security & Privacy?
Safety and security in the digital document management and e-signing software sector have come a long way. Your documents and paper trails are more secure digitally, digital signatures are verifiable and very difficult to tamper with, and cloud storage allows you superior document access control.
Digital e-signature solutions also offer a variety of security features. Smallpdf eSign, for example, is ISO/IEC 27001 certified and GDPR and eIDAS compliant. eSign also comes with timeline activity tracking, secure document storage, and Long Term Validation (LTV) timestamping.
If you’re looking to try an e-signature software solution, you can sign a document with eSign or take advantage of our 7-day free trial and unlock all premium features.
