Digital signatures are faster and more secure than traditional means of acquiring important handwritten signatures. Learn more about what
digital signatures are and their benefits, including how they can improve your online business.
What are Digital Signatures?
A
digital signature is a type of
digital identification that can be used to validate the
digital message. The
digital signature's identity validation gives information about who sent it and when, so you know whether or not there has been any tampering with the message or electronic
document in transit.
Digital signatures provide authentication without requiring physical access to what's being signed, or to the signature device.
How Do Digital Signatures Work?
Digital signatures have a high level of
security. They use asymmetric encryption, which means that the key for signing is different from the one used to decrypt messages locked with a
digital signature.
There are
digital signatures that use public and private keys,
digital certificates, and email signing. The type of
digital signature you should choose depends on the needs of your online business.
Benefits of Digital Signatures
Digital signatures are faster than traditional means of acquiring an important online signature. They help to simplify procedures such as
document exchange among partners or
customers outside a
company, by reducing administrative tasks needlessly involved in manual handling.
Digital signature tools provide authentication without requiring physical access to what's being signed or to the signature device. They are considered a
digital "fingerprint" that is unique and can't be forged without access to the original sender's private key.
Digital fingerprints also prove when data was sent, which helps detect messages or files being re-sent after an event that should have invalidated an original
document.
Using Digital Signatures in Online Businesses
Digital signatures will help
digital business transactions to be carried out faster and more securely. They can also reduce the risk of fraud, for example, if a payment is made on a website, it's possible that this could be revoked by using
digital signature technology.
Customer-centric
digital signing offers business owners many benefits including higher conversion rates and lower customer acquisition costs. The
digital document signing
process is also more secure and efficient and provides a much better user
experience.
Implementing Digital Signatures in a Business
If you're serious about
digital signatures, it's important to have an implementation strategy in place.
Step One: Understand what
digital signing is and how it can be implemented within your business environment.
Step Two: Find out if there are
digital signature tools or service providers for your
industry.
Step Three: Determine
digital signing requirements,
industry standards, and the
workflow that is required to implement
digital signatures in your business environment.
Step Four: Plan, pilot, and roll out a solution for yourself or your team with this information as guidance.
Digital signatures are becoming more common. Companies can enjoy the benefits
digital signatures have to offer, such as being faster than traditional means of acquiring an important signature and providing authentication without requiring physical access to what's being signed or to the signature device. The
digital signing
process is also more secure and efficient, which creates a better user
experience for
customers.
