Why Digital Signatures Are So Important in Financial Record-keeping
by Ayla El Assaad
Thinking about upgrading your paper-based record-keeping system to a digital solution? Great idea!
Thinking about upgrading your paper-based record-keeping system to a digital solution? Great idea!
Digital and electronic signatures are revolutionizing the way we do business and how we manage records and documentation. If you’re on the fence about whether adopting a digital signature solution is the right move for your financial business, we’re here to help.
First, let’s look at digital signatures.
What Is a Digital Signature?
A digital signature is essentially an advanced type of electronic signature, where a unique digital “fingerprint” is generated using a cryptographic process. The purpose of this number is to identify the signee and guarantee their authenticity. This can be validated using a PDF reader and makes digital signatures difficult to manipulate or forge.
How Digital Signatures Can Help With Record-keeping
Keeping track of and maintaining a well-organized and efficient financial record-keeping system can make or break your business. Managing and securing signatures is an important part and can be time-consuming and arduous. A digital signature and document management software can really help you speed up processes and increase their efficiency.
Audit Trails & Tracking
E-signature solutions come with a variety of features to help you keep a bird’s-eye view on the status of your documents. With Smallpdf eSign, for example, not only can you tell who’s signed a document, but the time and date they’ve signed and who still needs to sign. This makes audit trails really easy.
Security & Privacy
Another great feature is increased security. Digital signatures are very difficult to tamper with or forge and they can be validated and authenticated anytime. This is essential when working with sensitive and confidential documents, which is the case for most financial documentation.
Digital document management solutions have also come a long way regarding consumer privacy and security. Smallpdf is both GDPR and eIDAS compliant, as well as ISO/IEC 27001 certified. Our servers are TLS encrypted to ensure safe document processing, and our site is protected with HTTPS for secure network communication.
Digital Document Storage
The most impactful feature of a digital document management system for financial record-keeping is digital document storage. Cloud-based digital storage is far superior to traditional paper filing systems. Not only do you save time and money, but you also avoid tampering, water damage, and reduce human error.
According to Finances Online, financial institutions that adopt an e-signature solution can cut scanning errors by 92% and reduce missing files by 66%. You also have total control over document access rights and teams can take their files anywhere, enabling them to work on the go!
If you’re curious about whether an e-signature solution is right for your financial institution, check out eSign. You can explore the tool and sign a document, or you can try our 7-day free trial and unlock all Pro features.
