A Forrester Research survey found that documents with electronic signatures reduced the error rate by 80% and improved productivity by as much as 85%. Such statistics highlight the potential disruptive power of technologies such as eSignature and eIdentification in transforming digital businesses.
As the digital age marches on, businesses rely more heavily on moving the entire transaction life cycle to a digital platform. This article examines how businesses can benefit from technologies such as eID/digital certificates and digital trust services, etc.
It’s about speed and productivity
Numerous digital companies rely on speedy service delivery and convenience as their primary USP (Unique Selling Proposition). Anything that slows this down, such as paper contract signing, can negatively impact their business model. This is why digital businesses are adopting electronic identification, eSignature, and trust services faster than ever before. According to the Forrester research survey, 65% of the queries related to eSignatures were received from companies that already use the Software-as-a-Service business model.
It is apparent that SaaS companies that rely on immediate product/ service delivery would see a major benefit in the ability to enter into contracts quickly and effortlessly. Even traditional businesses would see the benefit in this. This is why the robust and secure framework offered by eIDAS is so relevant to the European market. It provides businesses with the contractual and transactional security and enforceability needed to operate on a fully digital platform.
It’s about security
Although electronic identification and trust services help greatly with the turnaround time to transact or enter into a contract, it is still done without compromising on security. In fact, these technologies provide an additional level of security and trust to all parties engaged in the transaction. Furthermore, a digital process/ digital signing process allows for real-time and automatic monitoring and greatly reduces the chance of fraud and the time taken to detect it. Such a system also allows for better auditability in the future.
The eIDAS regulation provides businesses with the necessary level of security and trust to enter into contracts and deliver services on a digital platform. This is true from a legal enforceability point of view as well.
It’s about convenience
As the world becomes ever more connected, the number of products or services that consumers can choose from increases exponentially.
This has meant that the focus has been shifting heavily towards the consumers, and their preferences are more important than ever. This cutting-edge competition has forced businesses to adapt and adopt technologies like digital signing and provide them to consumers with a much better service experience.
eIDAS provides seamless and convenient electronic identification and authentication for immediate service delivery for digital businesses. The framework works just as well for cross-border transactions across the EU, which is the level of service that most consumers expect.
Conclusion
Today’s digital businesses focus on improving the customer experience to the greatest extent possible. However, they have to do this while guaranteeing security and the legal enforceability of the contracts they enter. Regulations like eIDAS provide the framework to achieve these goals in the EU and create a modern and unified digital single marketplace.
References
- Forrester Research Data taken from the Source:
InfoCert Webinar: Disruptive Power of eIDAS (3/2018), by InfoCert
- Selected articles on eIDAS (2014-today), by Gaurav Sharma, Guillaume Forget, Stefan Hansen, Jan Kjaersgaard , Peter Landrock, Torben Pedersen, Dawn M. Turner, and more
- Selected articles on Authentication (2014-today), by Heather Walker, Luis Balbas, Guillaume Forget, Jan Kjaersgaard, Dawn M. Turner and more
- Selected articles on Electronic Signing and Digital Signatures (2014-today), by Ashiq JA, Guillaume Forget, Jan Kjaersgaard , Peter Landrock, Torben Pedersen, Dawn M. Turner, Tricia Wittig and more
- REGULATION (EU) No 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market and repealing Directive 1999/93/EC (2014) by the European Parliament and the European Commission
- REGULATION (EU) 2016/679 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (2016), by the European Parliament and the European Council
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Proposal for a REGULATION concerning the respect for private life and the protection of personal data in electronic communications and repealing Directive 2002/58/EC (Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications), (2017), by the European Parliament and the European Council
- Recommendations for the Security of Internet Payments (Final Version) (2013), by the European Central Bank
- Draft NIST Special Publication 800-63-3: Digital Authentication Guideline (2016), by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA.
- NIST Special Publication 800-63-2: Electronic Authentication Guideline (2013), by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA.
- Security Controls Related to Internat Banking Services (2016), Hong Kong Monetary Authority
Image: Unicorn, courtesy of Emre Ayaroglu, Flickr (CC BY 2.0)
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