How to choose the best eSignature Service

eSignatures are the gold standard for efficiency and simplicity in eCommerce, Banking, Insurance, Real estate, Finance, and other emerging sectors.

As per the latest market research, the valuation of the Digital Signature market was USD 2.03 Billion in 2019 and would reach USD 17.72 Billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 31.1% from 2020 to 2027.

E-signature software makes document processes speedier, efficient, and consistent for every task, right from closing sales contracts, team member onboarding, online banking, filing tax returns, esigning legal documents, and many more things.

The global adoption of e-signatures is accelerating at a rapid pace. The key factors driving the growth of the electronic signature market include a growing government emphasis on paperless bottlenecks, rising consumer demands for digital communication, and increased awareness of the legal acceptance of e signatures.

It is not easy to compare and choose an eSignature solution as many companies in the international market are claiming to be the top eSignature service provider.

In that case, you must follow this checklist to decide the best eSignature service for your organization.

1. Precise feedback from eSignature users

Ask for detailed feedback from eSignature users during the trial period- who may be employees from your company or the clients accessing the application to eSign the contract and agreements.

Different users may have different perspectives and views about the eSignature application.

An office team member will judge the application based on smooth user experience, time savings to focus on essential tasks, and convenience to use it on any device, any time.

The company must seek an answer to these questions from its employees before deciding about an esignature software:

• Is it easy to use the application?
• Do I need the training to use the application?
• Does it help free employee’s time to do meaningful work?
• Does it help in reducing the use of paper documents?
• Does it accelerate reviews and approval processes?
• Does it help track document signing progress?
• Does it help eSign the documents from anywhere?

A client may have different views and questions about the e signature application:

• Is it easy to use the eSignature application?
• Can I trust the esignature application?
• Is my eSigned document safe?
• Would it save time in esigning the documents?
• Are my eSignatures legally binding?

2. Is the eSignature application compliant with laws around the world?

The eSignature service must be compliant with major electronic laws like GDPR, eIDAS, and the ESIGN act.

GDPR

Suppose your business organization transacts with other companies globally and is looking to implement electronic signatures. In that case, you must ensure that the eSignature service provider demonstrates full compliance with the GDPR requirements.

eIDAS

The eIDAS regulation has two focus areas like Electronic identification (eID) and Electronic Trust Services (eTS), and must recognize three distinct signature types like

• Standard electronic signatures
• Advanced electronic signatures
• Qualified electronic signatures

ESIGN & UETA Act

Two bodies of law in the United States govern electronic signatures and their transactions in the Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN) and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA). They are collectively known as the US eCommerce Laws.

3. Does your eSignature vendor understand your business?

Although all e-signature solutions help organizations remove the paper-based method of acquiring wet signatures, some vendors can fall short when it comes to being aware of industries’ specific requirements related to prospective clients.

In highly regulated industries, such as the eCommerce, finance, law, construction, and insurance, it is crucial to work with an e-signature provider:

• Who understands the day-to-day challenges of your business
• Understands how e-signatures can fulfill your business needs
• Who knows how their services would streamline business operations
• How would it help companies cut costs in their respective sectors?
• Who complies with the regulations that are relevant to your organization
• Who complements the way of work in industries of different sectors
• Who provides cost-effective IT management

4. Security of electronic signatures

Data loss, breaches, malware, and viruses can harm your company’s reputation. You’ll need adequate security assurance when looking for an electronic signature vendor. You must check if they provide these security features:

User verification: User identities can be verified using ID cards, access keys, and digital certificates.

Audit Trail: The Audit Trail feature is a digital record maintained by the e-signature service.

Multi-factor authentication: Protects your document, ensuring that only authorized persons have access to them.

Document Verification: It ensures that a document remains unchanged after being signed. In case of edits to the document, the signatures are rendered invalid.

Secure storage: Please check if the esignature service providers use highly secure cloud storage solutions like Google cloud.

Security: To ensure that no one is spying on your connection, ensure that the service always utilizes an HTTPS connection.

5. User Privacy

The privacy of the data as a customer should be your top priority before finalizing an eSignature vendor.

You have to ensure that the esignature service provider provides complete privacy of your electronically signed documents.

Only invited employees should get the access and edit request to esign the document. There should be no scope of the document getting leaked outside the company network and accessible to uninvited employees.

It would be of great help if you seek answers to these questions from the service provider:

• What type of user data is collected by them?
• Are they collecting any personal user information?
• What do they do with such sensitive information?
• What are they doing to protect this information?
• Is the collected data safe from leakage?

6. Scalability

You want your company to keep growing and moving forward, and hopefully, you want to keep using the same resources you have now in the growth journey.

It is also true for eSignature apps; you have to ensure that the application use evolves with your business.

An excellent way to check this is to:

• Look at the service packages offered by your eSignature app
• How many users can be added by the company?
• Package wise advanced features & functionalities

Additionally, you must seek an answer to these questions:

• Is the digital signature scalable to meet the needs of the company today and in the future?
• Would it allow continuous modernization of your business?
• Is this application usable by other departments of the company?

7. Cost-Effectiveness

Is it justified to spend money on an eSignature application? How would it benefit the company in the long term and help streamline the day-to-day business operations?

To answer these questions, you must compare the features, benefits, annual pricing, user reviews, and ratings of different eSignature services before actually investing in a new one.

The cost-effectiveness of a software application is not only about the cheapest pricing but a combination of

• Ease of use
• Convenience in using the application
• Positive impact on business efficiency
• Improvement in employee productivity
• Business hour savings after using the software

8. The flexibility of the application

It is advisable to use an e-signature solution that merges well with its existing processes and workflows.

eSignature buyers must ask themselves:

• Would the application support employees work from home?
• How many portable devices are supported by this application?
• Would it support the business if the number of employees increases?
• Would there be future updates for the software?
• Can the software adapt as per your organizational changes?
• Would the vendor be able to adapt to your ideal process map?
• Is it possible to make quick & easy changes in your processes in the future?

9. Support

You will always need good, responsive support from the e signature service provider if there is any problem in using the application.

A good practice is to immediately reach out to the customer or technical support representative during the trial period and check out if they provide active support if the problem arises.

Another good way is to read customer reviews and ratings and check out the responses from other customers.

Most of the eSignature companies offer a free trial to use their applications. Use the trial period to thoroughly test the electronic signature application for user experience, task completion speed, and security of the eSigned documents.

Sign Up for a LunarPen FREE account to confirm the checklist items and start using the best e signature service today.

Conclusion

Asking yourself these questions before finalizing an electronic signature software will help you choose a solution suiting your business needs. Follow this checklist to select the best eSignature service for your organization.

Reach out to our experts to get started with electronic signatures today.