Digital contract signing

Digital contract signing helps businesses improve productivity, reduce costs, and gain a competitive advantage. Gone are the days when your employees and customers had to print, sign, scan, and mail the signed contracts. Digital signatures make it possible to sign all types of business documents in a matter of minutes. Plus, they are far more secure than handwritten and simple electronic signatures.

What is digital contract signing?

Digital contract signing is the process of signing contracts digitally using your electronic ID. Digitally signed contracts are legally binding and must be honored.

What are the benefits of digital contract signing?

Digital contract signing has a range of advantages for both businesses and their stakeholders. With the help of a digital signing solution, organizations can:

Provide a hassle-free signing experience

Before digital signatures, if you needed to get a contract signed, you only had two options: meet the signers in person, or have them print, sign, and scan the contract and send it back to you via email or post. Both these options took precious time away from your stakeholders and were honestly a bit of a hassle.

Digital signatures allow organizations to take the hassle out of contract signing and provide more convenient experiences to their customers and business partners. That’s because digital signing software enables signers to sign contracts directly on a computer, phone, or tablet using their electronic ID.

Work more efficiently

Digital signing software can automate most of the signing process — from routing contracts to multiple signers in a particular order to sending reminder emails at regular intervals.

By taking these tasks off your employees’ plates, digital signing tools enable your staff to focus on high-value activities that require interpersonal skills and critical thinking. This, in turn, improves efficiency throughout the entire organization.

Ensure a high level of security and compliance

In today’s world, data is invaluable. Unfortunately, this means that malicious third parties will often try to get their hands on it and misuse it for personal gain.

Companies have a huge responsibility to protect the data they’ve been entrusted with by their customers, employees, and other stakeholders. Digital signature providers like Penneo employ encryption, access control, and other security controls to ensure that the data stored in their platforms is protected from unauthorized access. Furthermore, Penneo complies with relevant regulations such as the eIDAS regulation and the GDPR.

You have to be careful, though, as there are many signature providers who not offer eIDAS-compliant signatures or a high level of data protection. Therefore, companies should conduct extensive research and request relevant certifications (e.g., ISO 27001) and reports (e.g., ISAE3000) from the providers before making a decision.

What types of contracts can be signed digitally?

Examples of agreements that can be signed digitally include real estate contracts, sales contracts, employment contracts, partnership agreements, loan agreements, and confidentiality agreements.

Signing contracts digitally with Penneo Sign

The key benefits of signing contracts digitally with Penneo Sign include:

Legal validity

Penneo Sign supports the creation of both advanced and qualified electronic signatures. Under the eIDAS regulation, qualified electronic signatures carry the same legal weight as handwritten signatures.

Penneo Sign allows users to create advanced electronic signatures with MitID, MitID Erhverv, Swedish BankID, and the Finnish Trust Network, and qualified electronic signatures with itsme®, Norwegian BankID, .beID, and passport.

All digital signatures created via Penneo Sign can identify the signer and ensure the integrity of the signed document(s).

Enhanced security

Penneo Sign is a GDPR-compliant solution that safeguards data against unauthorized access. Our commitment to security is demonstrated by our ISO 27001 and ISO 27701 certifications, as well as the ISAE3000 report that we receive on an yearly basis.

Increased efficiency

Penneo Sign automates most of the signing process, drastically reducing manual tasks for you and your employees. Our signing flows ensure that documents are signed by the right individuals, in the correct order, while automatic reminders help you meet deadlines. Our open API and pre-built integrations enable you to integrate Penneo Sign with your existing tech stack and further automate workflows.

By minimizing manual work, you free up more time for value-creating tasks and reduce errors, significantly boosting overall efficiency.

Better client experience

Allowing your clients to sign contracts digitally at their convenience greatly enhances the client experience. Clients no longer have to deal with the time-consuming process of printing, signing, and scanning documents. Instead, they can complete the process from any device, at any time, and from anywhere, making it faster and more convenient. This not only saves time but also reduces the frustration often associated with traditional paperwork.

Cost savings

By going digital, businesses can significantly reduce costs associated with traditional paper-based processes, such as printing, postage, and physical storage. The need for printing multiple copies of contracts or documents is eliminated, which cuts down on paper and ink expenses. Additionally, businesses save on postage fees and the time spent mailing documents, as everything can be sent and signed electronically in a matter of minutes. Furthermore, digital contracts don’t require physical storage space, reducing the need for filing cabinets, off-site storage, or other archiving solutions. Instead, contracts are stored securely in the cloud, easily accessible whenever needed. These cost savings, when multiplied over hundreds or thousands of contracts, can significantly impact a company’s bottom line, freeing up resources for other critical areas of the business.

Conclusion

Digital contract signing has revolutionized the way businesses handle agreements, offering significant benefits in terms of productivity, cost savings, and security. Gone are the days of cumbersome, time-consuming paper-based processes. With digital signatures, businesses can streamline their workflows, ensuring that contracts are signed quickly and efficiently from anywhere, at any time. This not only reduces the manual tasks associated with traditional methods but also increases accuracy, minimizing human errors. Furthermore, by adopting a secure and compliant digital signing solution like Penneo Sign, organizations can ensure the legal validity of their contracts while protecting sensitive data in accordance with regulations such as GDPR and eIDAS.

The advantages of digital contract signing extend beyond internal efficiency. Offering clients and business partners the ability to sign contracts digitally enhances the overall user experience, contributing to stronger relationships and improved satisfaction. Moreover, businesses can reduce operational costs by eliminating the need for physical paperwork, storage, and postage, resulting in significant long-term savings. In a world where time and security are paramount, adopting digital contract signing is not only a practical step but a strategic move that positions companies for success in an increasingly digital landscape.