The world is slowly but surely moving away from its centuries-old obsession with paper. With the very real threat of man-made climate change, it is a welcome sign that the world is moving towards electronic means for recording and communicating information which is reducing the pressure on our forests. In addition to the trees saved, this also reduces the carbon impact of having to physically ship those documents around – usually via the least carbon-efficient modes like airplanes.

When it comes to digital certificates and signatures, the most obvious applications that pop into our heads are surrounding financial transactions or other such services where formal and legally binding contracts have to be signed. However, the benefits that qualified electronic signatures/ seals provide under EU law are not at all restricted to only such digital service providers. Today, we explore a significantly different environment, but one that faces the same challenges regarding security and trust.

The broader financial services industry – including banks, credit card companies, FinTech service providers, tech companies offering digital wallets etc – are today at the frontlines in the fight against cybercrime. Because these companies are involved in moving large sums of money around each day, they become obvious targets for criminal elements.

New technical standard to harmonise the requirements for the quality of Qualified Electronic Signatures

The EU standard (EN 419241-2) has just been published and will be used to evaluate quality and compliance with the legislation of the entities used in the activation of remote electronic signatures. This is the first of its kind in Europe and is targeted at the Qualified Trust Service Providers who deliver and store European electronic signatures. Cryptomathic has participated in the development of the standard and has thus ensured influence on the requirements.

More than a decade ago, Cryptomathic and LuxTrust, then a newly formed trust service provider (TSP), decided to invest in the development of cloud-based electronic signing technology, in anticipation of future demand from Luxembourg’s digital ecosystem. At the time local signing devices, in the form of smart cards and USB tokens, were dominant and the only widely available means of establishing the highest level of electronic signing assurance. 

The financial services industry is no stranger to intense scrutiny as well as extreme competition. These two forces have shaped banks over the course of the last several decades, especially since FinTech start-ups and established BigTech firms have started encroaching upon traditional banking territory. This is why banks are always looking for tools and processes that can help them satisfy all stakeholders – especially the customers and regulators.

SME’s are the backbone of any economy. They provide jobs to a much broader cross section of society and strengthen the economic foundation of nations. The EU has numerous regulations in place to help SME’s grow and prosper and uplift the local communities that they operate in as well. However, no matter how friendly the regulations may be, the biggest challenge for SME’s remains their small size. They just don’t have the resources, the manpower or the capital to compete head to head with their larger counterparts.

But is it possible to level this playing field a bit? Can we change some things up that can reduce transactional costs to a non-prohibitive level for SMEs? Let’s take a look at just how the eIDAS regulation can help level the playing field by alleviating, at least partially, some of the main SME pain points.

We looked at how eIDAS has the potential to enhance trust and thus reduce costs when it comes to international trade transactions in our previous article. This article continues on a similar theme, exploring the role that something like eIDAS can play in the digitalization of global trade, and also in the trade of digital goods.