What You Can Do with a Digital Signature

Tomáš Klimeš, Product Sales Manager

The paper free processing of contracts, including signatures, directly on a tablet is not only economical, it also opens the door to more modern and effective models of sales and customer service. Private bankers from several banks and specialists trained in the area of banking and investment products have been taking their tablets to meetings with clients since last year. Not just any tablets, but specialized Samsung models that can record signatures written with an S pen on the screen.

Display instead of Paper

Bankers always have their tablets handy to enable clients to sign contracts or financial transactions wherever they are, i.e., even when the tablet is not connected to Internet. This is similar to the way clients are accustomed to signing. Everything is in front of them and the information can be checked. The only difference is that they do not sign papers in their own hand but in an electronic document directly on the screen.

Contracts or orders for transactions are locked upon signing and protected from changes, and if connectivity is available, they will be sent immediately to the e-mail address of the client for processing. If a tablet is not connected to Internet, the document can be sent at the next possible opportunity.

Private bankers can work this way thanks to the Signatus solution which connects documents with signatures and other metadata (such as the name of the signatory and dealer,  the timestamp, IP address, GPS coordinates, identification card image, etc.) directly on the device. Because it is not connected to an external server like other digital signing systems, the client doesn’t need a biometric server. 

Cost Saving

Delivery service companies and companies providing service for their products also sign contracts with suppliers on tablets with Signatus. Cetelem, a provider of personal loans and installment sales, has enabled some of its dealers to close contracts with customers through the use of tablets.

All of these companies had similar reasons for choosing the paper free processing of documents, including digital signatures with biometric characteristics.  One of them is the savings on the printing, distribution, and archiving of documents and on unwanted costs resulting from errors.  

For example, if an energy distributor acquires customers through direct sales in households and if something is re-written or crossed out after the signing of the contract  – e.g., an incorrectly filled out address – such contract becomes invalid. With digital processing, the error rate can be eliminated since software can instantly verify the accuracy of the entered information when completing the forms.  

Better Customer Service

The possibility for companies to provide even better and more modern services to customers and to make the entire process of closing a contract more effective – from completing the form, through signing, to sending for further processing, is an even more important benefit resulting from the elimination of paper and the use of digital signatures.  

For example, for dealers who enable consumers to buy goods on installment through Cetelem, the digital processing of a contract means reducing the repayment period for goods from 4 or 5 days to 1 day.  This solution also allows energy salesmen and insurance brokers to be sure that the information in the concluded contract is verified, the contract is valid and when leaving the customer, it is already safely sent for further processing.

The possibility of digital processing and the signing of documents on a tablet opens new opportunities for banks and telecommunications operators when serving their clients at branch offices. Overseas, where clients no longer physically visit their banks, the premises of bank branches now resemble cafes. Clients no longer have to stand in line; instead, they can relax on a sofa and wait for the bank personnel to come to them - with a tablet.

Unused Potential

Naturally, an electronic contract that is contained in a tablet where it can be digitally signed does not restrict client space to the “premises” of the branch.  It can expand its limits to squares or shopping malls. Telecommunications operators can easily connect marketing surveys with the possibility of the instant signing of a contract.

The possibilities for the use of digital signatures are immense – your imagination is the only limiting factor. One foreign mobile network operator is considering turning every customer into a potential dealer of its services. A friend will visit you and take photos of the necessary documents; you will sign the contract on the tablet and in a few minutes your SIM card will be activated.

3 Reasons for Digital Signing with Signatus

1. Since connecting the document and signature takes place directly in a tablet, no Internet connection or biometric server, which would cost you from X to Y thousand Euro over 5 years is necessary.  
2. Abundant functionality, such as the processing of attachments (ID cards, invoices) and the verification of entered information (correct format and form, permanent residences, etc.).
3. Independence from infrastructure – except for the tablets which are able to record digital signatures, there is no need to buy hardware or software and worry about compatibility.