What is an electronic signature, and how do I start using it?

We are constantly signing various documents. As entrepreneurs or employees in a company dealing with numerous papers, we often face piles of documents that must be signed or prepared for others to sign. And this is where electronic signature comes into play. 

What advantages does e-signing bring to users?

‘Electronic signature’ means data in electronic form which is attached to or logically associated with other data in electronic form and which is used by the signatory to sign (summarized according to the eIDAS Regulation).

A digital signature, however, is an electronic signature based on a complex Public Key Infrastructure (or PKI for short). PKI creates private and public (cryptographic) keys for secure signature management. The private key is secret data known only to the signer, while the public key is accessible to everyone who verifies the e-signature or its authenticity.

Time savings

The most obvious benefit is the time saved. With e-signatures, you skip printing, signing, mailing documents, and waiting for them to return by the same route.

You'll have your important documents signed faster, and signers can sign documents anywhere and anytime at their convenience. Signers who still need to sign will get a reminder to do so.

Paper savings

Since you've prepared your documents digitally, it only makes sense to continue and conclude the process digitally. Paper documentation seems both technologically and environmentally unreasonable in the 21st century, as paper requires too many trees to produce - did you know that for every 16 reams of printing paper, a tree goes down?

Plus, paper occupies significant physical space in your company, not to mention the risk of misplacement or loss of documents.

High level of security

Certain documents are meant for specific individuals, and e-signature platforms provide various authentication methods to verify the signers' identity before accessing documents. You can be confident that your document will only reach the intended person.

Paper documents are easily lost. When working digitally, every signature leaves an audit trail, enabling verification of when and who opened, signed, or approved the document, eliminating the possibility of signature abuse.

Compliance

Every business process has rules and regulations to follow - trusted service providers, including e-signature services, are subject to strict regulations by national and European legislative bodies.

Improved user experience

 E-signing allows for various methods of signing based on specific business scenarios and devices. Users can sign with a simple click on a personal computer, with a finger press on a mobile device, or choose a handwritten signature using a stylus on a signing pad or tablet, which provides the best user experience. E-signing is not complex or limited to any specific industry.

Convenience

E-signing is easy and convenient. Once you prepare and send documents for signing, your signers can sign them at their desks in the office, on the couch in their living room, or even on a beach lounger. Literally anywhere. 

Cost savings

Time is money, and by obtaining a signature faster (without the need for unnecessary postal services), you can also issue an invoice faster. Basically, all the benefits mentioned above contribute to cost savings.

For implementing electronic signature in your company, you don't need new computers or software, and you won't have to send your employees to additional training - they are already adequately trained for electronic signing (as are your customers).

To get a taste of an electronic signature service fast and easily, you can try the BetrSign® service.

BetrSign is a user-friendly, secure, and legally compliant e-signature service developed by a Slovenian high-tech company with over 20 years of experience in innovative products and services for managing digital (business) transactions in various industries. It is available in multiple languages and over 957,888 users in more than 15 countries use it.

Sign up for a BetrSign free trial and enjoy the benefits and advantages of e-signing for your business and personal life. Transitioning to electronic signature services like BetrSign will allow you to replace paper-based operations with modern technologies. You can continue creating your documents in your favorite office program and "print" them to PDF.

You can than easily upload your PDF to BetrSign, specify who will sign it (besides you) and, in what order, if necessary. BetrSign allows you to:

• add interactive fields (text fields, drop-down menus, or checkboxes) if you need any further information from the signer,
• drag and drop a signature place for each signer,
• save templates for certain types of documents you frequently use for easier and faster preparation.

You can customize messages accompanying the documents to match your company's or brand's visual identity, and you can track the status of documents to see at which signing stage they are and who hasn't signed them yet.

You can send reminders to signers who still need to sign the document, and at the end, you will receive the signed documents via email and store them digitally.