In the age of rapid and constant technological advancement, the manner in which we handle signatures has called for change. The method for signing documents with a pen on paper, commonly known as a wet signature, has completely evolved into a more efficient, secure, and streamlined signature—eSignature.
In this blog, we’ll touch on what makes eSignature more impactful and secure than wet signatures and the functionality businesses should prioritize to attain a best-in-class eSignature platform.
Wet Signature
A wet signature involves physically signing a paper document with a pen or wet ink. While wet signatures have been the standard and the only option for centuries, they come with drawbacks. Physically signing all documents is time-consuming, requires extensive physical resources and labor hours, and requires the document and signer to be in the same place, which can be made especially challenging in situations with multiple signers who can’t easily meet in a centralized location.
In order to avoid holdups to business because of the drawbacks that wet signatures create, organizations have turned to eSignature to keep work moving along in a more efficient manner.
Electronic Signatures
Electronic signatures have been on the rise since 2000. eSignatures are a modernized alternative to wet signatures that solve the problems consistent with wet signatures—time, accessibility, and location.
Businesses that use signatures in a digital format experience a faster, more secure, and efficient way to obtain approvals and agreements. Since there are dozens of programs businesses can use to request eSignatures, the right eSignature provider makes these benefits even more apparent.
Benefitting Your Business with eSignature
eSignatures can elevate contracts, agreements, and other essential document work by getting them done faster so you can focus on the strategic aspects of partnerships and service. Instead of facing delays caused by wet signatures and unproductive eSignatures, you’ll experience benefits such as ease of use that greatly increase the impact your business can have. Adopting this new and more efficient standard for business operations with a robust eSignature platform can propel your business forward to surpass your business goals by getting document work done faster, while helping you keep up with competition.
Ease of Use
With just a few clicks or keystrokes, users can digitally sign their document without having to physically report to a specified location. eSignatures are easier on those requesting a signature and those signing the document, creating a hassle-free experience for everyone.
Revver’s eSignature is easy to implement and can be completed with just a few clicks.
Speed
Rather than waiting for multiple parties to carry out physical document signing processes, eSignature can be done in a moment’s notice. Businesses that use eSignature over wet signatures can complete contracts in minutes or even seconds, reducing turnaround time for essential documents.
Revver’s eSignature can be automated within your business process workflows so you can collect signatures without any manual work.
Security
eSignatures are the most secure type of signature. They can be encrypted and have authentication built directly into them, preventing them from being tampered with. The high level of security required for each signature makes it nearly impossible to recreate or forge those digital signatures.
Revver’s eSignature stays within the platform where you can easily track who has accessed a document and submitted a signature.
The Time and Place for eSignatures
In our modern business landscape, eSignatures are legitimate and legally recognized—and often preferred. Everyday business transactions can be efficiently and effectively handled with eSignatures, with only a handful of exceptions, making eSignature an expected feature for businesses in any industry.
Beyond Signatures
While businesses cannot do without eSignatures in today’s world and most are already using eSignature in some form, the platform used to carry out eSignatures is just as important.
A robust eSignature platform can also extend its functionality beyond signatures. Revver is a document management solution that houses a native eSignature, while equipping businesses with the tools to automate all aspects of document work—organization, findability, collaboration, and security and compliance—all at scale. Other document management platforms often require third-party integrations for eSignature instead of offering an all-in-one solution like Revver.
Legal Recognition
With congress’s passing of the ESIGN Act in 2000, the United States has granted electronic signatures the same legal status as physical signatures. To ensure the validity of your business’s eSignatures, consider the following questions:
- Do I know who signed the document? (Signer Authentication)
- Do I know they intended to? (Affirmative Act)
- Has there been proper disclosure and consent? (Compliance)
- Has the document remained completely unaltered? (Document Authentication)
- Is the document electronically accessible to all signers? (Access)
- Can I prove all of this? (Evidence)
If you can answer these questions with a resounding “yes,” you can have confidence in your business’s eSignature abilities to adequately protect your business and its business dealings appropriately.
Securing Your Business: eSignature vs. Wet Signature
The downside to wet signatures is that they can be forged or tampered with, with limited procedures in place that prevent that from happening. Additionally, human error can put businesses at risk as signers or those facilitating the contract may overlook key fields to manually fill out, thus invalidating the contract. With wet signatures, there is a limited number of copies, which can make misplaced documents catastrophic and significantly set work back.
With constant threats and concerns of unauthorized access across the internet, security is a popular concern for those considering the use of eSignatures. Those that use Revver’s native eSignature have a suite of tools that ensure they are secure every time. Protective features in place, like audit trails to track actions performed on every document, make them more secure than wet signatures—and even more secure than less robust electronic signature platforms. Revver’s digital signatures are customizable, trackable, and less susceptible to forgery.
In addition to being easier to use, eSignatures can provide legal protection to your contracts and processes so you can reduce the burden of security management within your document work.
Integrating eSignatures into Your Workflow
While you likely already have some form of eSignature as part of your workflow, it’s time to ask yourself if your eSignature platform provides you with the full functionality, security, and ease of use that’s available to you. Upgrading to a platform like Revver can completely automate the collection of signatures and make business processes seamless, elevating all aspects of your work.
Conclusion
The transition from wet signatures to eSignatures is an important leap forward in efficiency, security, and convenience. And because basic eSignature platforms do not directly impact document work as a whole, you should use one that is fully integrated into every aspect of document work through extensive automation and native eSignature capabilities. As technology continues to evolve, businesses must adapt their workflows to have a greater impact, with less involved labor hours. Embrace streamlined document work with eSignature, and use Revver DMS to automate your processes and elevate every aspect of document work.
