Going paperless with electronic signatures

Digital & electronic signatures solutions enhance business processes, through the making and saving of more money.

The downturn in the economy has businesses of all sizes thinking how they could enhance their efficiency and cut costs, without damaging their business results in today’s business environment. We, at xyzmo SIGNificant believe that in these tough times businesses could extremely streamline their processes by embedding electronic signature solutions, to sign documents without using any paper, thus enable a TRUE paperless workflow.

Most of the companies today, automate their business processes and document workflow procedures, leaving the approval stage the only component that requires the need of paper. Digital and electronic signatures replace the concept of traditional paper-based signing with an electronic one. Signing the original electronic document saves companies on labor, faxing, mailing and archiving costs. Lost documents or missing signatures are a thing of the past, as after the signing process ends, all documents are immediately available for archiving or further processing. Additionally, digital signatures safeguard electronic documents and files by allowing the authentication of the signatory and verification of the original document. By embedding these solutions in their business, companies will no longer need to print documents and brake the electronic document cycle solely for the purpose of capturing a handwritten signature, therefore establishing a fully digitized process.

When considering the operational overhead of paper-based processes, the cost of each document becomes fairly high. From the experience we acquired in xyzmo SIGNificant, we learnt that the simple step of embedding an electronic signature solution enables business to achieve two important goals, which are making and saving more money, resulting in a better bottom line with a quick and proven ROI.

Benefits making the achievement of these goals possible

• Reducing operational & back office overhead – there is no need to perform paper-related tasks such as printing, scanning, faxing and shredding as the business processes become paper-free.  In addition, all documents are available to the back office systems for real-time decision making and for immediate electronic archiving, eliminating cases of document loss or duplication and missing signatures.
• Increasing security and reducing fraud – Once the document is signed electronically, security increases. The integrity of the content is guaranteed and if requested, enabling real-time dynamic verification of the handwritten signature against a pre-defined biometric profile.
• Doing more business by closing more deals faster – the electronic signature helps accelerating turnaround times by reducing customer waiting periods and avoiding searching for contracts or forms, while customers are waiting. Therefore more customers can be served by enabling a rapid and efficient workflow.
• Drive customer satisfaction and retention – by embedding a handwritten electronic signature solution, which requires no changes in customers’ habits. The customers continue to sign like they always did, but with a distinct advantage of an improved experience, thanks to reduced waiting times and the convenience of remote and secured document handling.
• Improved legal compliancy and limited liability – the electronic signature is added into the document the same way as signing a paper, but reduces the probability of document forgery, as any manipulation within the document will result in invaliding the signature.
• Increasing revenue by having more time available for up/cross selling – the usage of electronic signatures dramatically increases the efficiency of sales/consulting staffs and reduces processing times, leaving more time for up/cross selling.

Many banks and financial institutions already realized that going paperless with electronic signatures is an important step towards success in a tough economy. As the environment and processes in banks include a considerable amount of paper and forms, they need to struggle with an excess of paper related tasks just to obtain and mange customer and internal signatures. Most of them have already implemented sophisticated document management and core banking solutions. Thanks to the complete xyzmo SIGNificant’s signature solutions it is very easy and convenient to enhance this existing infrastructure with all the necessary functionalities for a total paperless process. The combination of the existing infrastructure with the xyzmo SIGNificant suite is an optimal alternative to paper-based processes, as they minimize signature fraud and reduce paper related costs and labor, resulting in increased efficiency of business processes in banks and financial institution.

Due to a unique set of features including the possibility to embed a handwritten signature with biometric attributes (such as rhythm, speed, pressure, movement & acceleration), use a robust smartcard, a top-notch software certificate handling technology, mass-signature capabilities, numerous document conversion functionalities, the xyzmo Seal and a possibility to verify documents anytime anywhere via a link to a verification URL. Our secure signature solutions are a perfect fit for various financial procedures such as account openings, withdrawals, loan origination, issuing policies, signing application forms and authorizing transactions.

The customer is the core of all financial and banking transactions, therefore having a competitive advantage is key for getting more business. By embedding xyzmo SIGNificant’s signature solutions, accounts can be opened faster and withdrawals completed more efficiently. Signing and sealing financial agreements are performed electronically and can be automatically sent to the customer using the provided email address. Verification of the authenticity/integrity of the documents and storage problems will no longer be an issue for your bank or financial institution and its customers. In addition the straight-through processing of forms and documents reduces errors and enables fast access to electronic documents for auditing purposes.

Beyond the possibility of capturing a handwritten signature by using a broad range of signature capturing devices from various manufacturers, also smart-cards, tokens and software certificates are supported. Given the high scalability of the SIGNificant Server, millions of electronic signatures can be generated automatically and verified every hour also in mass signature processes, enabling banks and financial institutions to realize a TRUE paperless environment. They can verify all incoming electronically signed documents and use handwritten signatures, smartcards or software certificates for the approval processes. Acquiring additional data in order to complete a form can be done simply by scanning or swiping a credit card or driver’s license or via a soft keyboard displayed on the signature pad. All documents can be converted into secure PDF files or into protected xml files. And last but not least, banks can launch a verification service for the use of their external partners, with which they can verify if a received document is the original one with only one mouse-click.
This simple, intuitive solution which is easy to integrate in any IT environment and easily accepted by customers as it is very similar to current paper-based processes, offers banks and financial institutions the benefits of a secure, electronic environment. It enables them to dramatically streamline their business processes and of course, save money by going paperless. This way spending for paper, printing supplies, or shipping of forms is eliminated.
Many companies from additional sectors, such as telecommunication, insurance, healthcare and pharmaceutical are already taking advantage of what this cutting-edge technology has to offer, in order to achieve better business results. With the knowledge that our electronic signature solutions could benefit many other customers, especially in time of financial uncertainty, we would be delighted to learn about your company’s needs and assist you in streamlining your business processes.

For more information on xyzmo SIGNificant’s digital & electronic signature solutions, please visit our website at: www.xyzmo.com.