The Online Digital Signature Way

19 September 2017

With the move to the digital age picking up speed, many common and traditional concepts are being flipped on their heads. People and companies are breaking all traditional norms to deliver us new and innovative ways to meet our needs and wants.

We believe that this trend will continue to change our lives, for example many businesses are ditching the ‘desk phone’ and moving into a ‘digital phone’.

Do you think a similar fate is destined for the common signature, we do. As consumers demand for fast, efficient and sustainable solutions, the prerequisite for paper and pen is vanishing. With solutions like Secured Signing, many of our customers have gone paperless and transformed their business practices into digital. This means you can interact with businesses on the go, when it suits you and quickly.

Those businesses that are not considering a change into a digital platform and a digital customer experience are risking being left behind.

At Secured Signing, we don’t only help our customers to remain relevant, but we do the same ourselves, constantly thinking into the future and developing new features. This is how our newest feature Video Confirmation was created. Can you imagine a world where instead of signing your name to authenticate a transaction you will record a video of yourself. With the access to mobile devices and apps like Instagram and snapchat, we are regularly using the camera device to interact with others. We believe, this device can be used to confirm purchases, agreements and proof of identity.

Benefit of Secured Signing’s video verification is the unquestionable authenticity of who is signing or approving a transaction. With our technology, the video forms part of the legal transactions and cannot be changed without invalidating the agreement. This is the most secure method to confirm the identity of the signer.

Check out this quick video showing how video technology is already supporting the signing process

If you want to stay ahead of your competitors, be sure to contact Secured Signing today to discuss how we can work together to transform your business into digital – its smart.

Till next time,

John Webster

11^th September 2017

Secured Signing has been named in the top 3 best electronic signature solutions currently on the global market.  Adam Marshall from Tech Radar Pro describes Secured Signing as “one-stop digital signatures service to get to the all important dotted line as soon as possible”.

Marshall also writes “We're impressed by the sheer amount of extra services it offers. For example, there's a video confirmation feature where you can identify the signer and prevent any document tampering (if that's a concern). You can invite others to sign and there’s an even option for document negotiation”.

Secured Signing stood out on top for its cost effectiveness compared to Docusign and Adobe eSign. “Secured Signing is more cost effective software than the above two eSignature solutions. We also like that it's easier to customise your package and get better value as you add more users”.

Our ethos is to make our full service suite available for every single customer without charging extra. We know that for all businesses, regardless of industry or size there will come a time or scenario where one of our extra services will be of benefit. For instance, our world first Video Confirmation feature can be used to complete customer due diligence and comply with know your customer regulation (KYC) – this means our customers are completely enabled to run an efficient and paperless business.  

Open a FreeWay account today to try for yourself the best one stop digital signature solution - take out the inconvenience of physically signing paperwork.

Click here to read the full article in Tech Radar - Top 5 best e-signature apps and software solutions

Till next time

Cheers, John

August 30, 2017

Tim Osborn, of Osborn Law, wrote recently in the Newcastle Herald about a court case that highlights the risks in relying on scanned signatures as a form of signing. It's a reminder that if you need to sign, then you should sign with a tamper proof digital signature that is unique to you and your document. Nothing else is worth the risk.

In the case in question, an electronic image of the signature was readily accessible on the corporate network. The court held that documents signed by simply pasting the image into a document, were not legally binding. It was not possible to demonstrate that the owner of the signature had personally applied their signature to the document or given their explicit consent to do so. The result was a loss of business and a costly court case. It could have all been avoided by using a digital signature service such as Secured Signing.

Signing a document using Secured Signing is as a simple click to sign process that differs from scanned signatures in a number of really important ways.

The first is that Secured Signing gives you an automated log of every action performed in the signing process. This is one of the key pieces of advice Mr Osborn gives in his article.  Good quality record keeping is invaluable in demonstrating that a signed document is evidence of a legally binding agreement. Secured Signing completely automates the logging of every action so your people don't have to waste their time, keeping manual records of who did what and when.

The second is validating the identity of your signer. A key problem in the case referenced is that it could not be demonstrated that the person who applied the signature to the document was the owner of the signature. Secured Signing creates unique credentials for each person who will sign your document that only they can access. Adding video confirmation to your signing process captures a brief video recording of the person signing your document, to give you a signed document that cannot be reasonably challenged.

The final thing I'll mention is the inherent authenticity and reliability of PKI based digital signatures. A digital signature is much more than a graphical representation of a person's signature. It provides sophisticated methods to seal the signed document from tampering and creates an irrevocable, unforgeable and no transferrable link between the signer and the document.  

As you know, inviting people to sign your documents with Secured Signing is quick, simple, inexpensive and reduces your risk. Share with your friends and colleagues that they too can enjoy the benefits Secured Signing, help us spread the word and they can be signing documents online today with one of our Freeway evaluation accounts.

‘til next time

Cheers, John 

August 8, 2017

It seems obvious but it bears repeating. Being absolutely clear on who is signing your document, not only makes good business sense, it is also a compliance requirement for many industries. Adding video confirmation to Secured Signing's usual signing process ensures there can be no doubt about who signed your document.

Even if your business is not subject to anti money laundering and counter terrorism financing (AML/CTF) legislation, robust customer due diligence practices will give you a competitive advantage, limit your exposure to the risk of loss and protect your business from damage to its reputation. It's also just plain good sense. If there is ever a dispute, being able to simply and clearly demonstrate who signed your document will ensure you are best placed to recover monies owed or the return of equipment hired or leased.

It is not just banks and other lenders that need to comply with the customer due diligence requirements of AML/CTF legislation. A recent mutual evaluation of Australia's AML/CTF frameworks gave an overall pass mark, but highlighted key areas of concern. Research by AUSTRAC, the Australian government's financial intelligence agency, indicates the outcomes around customer due diligence (CDD) vary from very high confidence to closer to 50% confidence in customer identity. This is an area that needs to improve as AUSTRAC rightly identifies that knowing your customer is "the cornerstone of an effective AML/CTF regime." It is not surprising that regulatory reform proposals recommend both more explicit CDD requirements and the application of CDD requirements to a broader range of industries.

Secured Signing's video confirmation capability is a simple yet powerful tool to demonstrate you know exactly who is signing your documents.  

Customers expect to be able to transact business with you online. Inviting your customers to sign documents online with Secured Signing gives you the capability to meet this expectation of customer convenience while enjoying the security, authenticity and reliability that only tamper proof digital signatures can provide. Adding a video confirmation to your online signing process gives you complete confidence you know who you are dealing with and in particular who signed your agreement.  

When you ask customers to use video confirmation in the signing process, they are prompted to record a short video before they sign the document. The whole process takes no more than 10 seconds. The video records a specific gesture which is recorded in the Secured Signing document log and the video's secure location is appended to the document and sealed with the PKI digital signature, ensuring the details cannot be modified without invalidating the signature.

If your non face to face transactions don't give you this degree of confidence in knowing who your customer is, it is time to closely evaluate the benefits Secured Signing can give you. The best first step is to open a free evaluation account and try video confirmation of signing yourself.  Secured Signing's website provides a lot more detail on how video confirmation works to deliver unquestionable confirmation of signer's identity. As always, if you have specific questions, please get in touch and someone will contact you personally.  

'Til next time

Cheers, John

June 6, 2017

Financial services companies must know who is signing their documents. If there is any doubt that the correct person has signed the loan, agreement, authority to proceed, or whatever the document may be, the business leaves itself open to fraud, is exposed to unnecessary risk and faces the possibility of loss, not to mention becoming non-compliant with 'Know Your Customer' legislative requirements. Secured Signing provides the most robust verification of signer identity with the world first use of video confirmation as part of the signing process.

Online signing by its nature provides much stronger confirmation of who is signing your documents than simply sending documents by post or email and taking it on faith they have been signed by the correct person. The addition of video recording of the signer, in a way that is uniquely and irrevocably tied to the document being signed, provides a degree of confidence in signer identity that cannot be reasonably challenged. It is a genuinely innovative approach that provides a degree of confidence in identity that is unmatched by any other signing method. It builds on the already robust authenticity of the underlying PKI Based digital signatures used by Secured Signing and existing additional identity verification tools such as two factor authentication and identity document searches.

Let's drill into how the process works to really appreciate how robust and reliable this new approach is.

Video confirmation is quick and simple for the signer. They are asked to activate the camera on their device and record themselves performing specific gestures. It takes less than 10 seconds. The required gestures are specific to the document being signed, recorded in the document log and are analysed in real time. The nature of the verification and the changing requirements make it impossible to pass the verification using an image or pre-recorded video. Video confirmation provides much stronger confirmation of identity than static biometric verification such as facial or fingerprint recognition.

The confirmation video is retained in a secure, encrypted repository. The signed document contains both a reference to the location of the video confirmation and the password required to access it. The tamper proof mechanisms inherent in PKI based digital signatures means neither the reference nor the password can be modified, without invalidating the signature. All documents signed with Secured Signing can be verified independently to confirm the document content is unchanged. Video confirmation enhances the inherent security and authenticity of PKI based digital signatures with the recorded video of the person signing the document.

Video confirmation is available to all Secured Signing customers now. Once enabled in My Settings, the option to require a signer to provide video confirmation is available on the signing workflow screen. You can try Secured Signing, including video confirmation of identity for free.  Register for your account now.

'Til next time
Cheers, John