IS THE ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE A GOOD IDEA OR A BAD IDEA

Shikha Gupta
4 min readSep 29, 2021

Owing to the need for ease and security of doing things, Electronic Signature is quickly gaining steam as a more convenient method of gathering signatures on documents for business transactions, particularly in the e-commerce world.

Read the report to learn how leading companies across industries are improving critical business processes using eSignatures to achieve greater customer satisfaction, employee productivity, sales productivity, lower costs, and greater efficiency.

To understand if E Signature is a good idea or a bad one, we’ll have to weigh the pros and cons.

However, before we start considering the good and risk- let’s get a clear understanding of what exactly is Electronic Signature.

What is an Electronic Signature?

Pros of Electronic Signature

Cons of Electronic Signature

What is an Electronic Signature?

Electronic signature or E signature is the digital version of the traditional handwritten ink signature. It requires for documents and signatures to be encrypted to gather signatures on documents shared electronically.

So, by using Electronic Signature, you perform an action in the likes of scanning your finger, retina, face, or in the most basic form of Electronic Signature, scribble your name on a digital device, etc

which are linked with your digital documents proving your identification.

Using Electronic Signature involves three parties- The individual signatory, the business entity making it a requirement in a transaction, and the E Signature Vendor providing the platform for creating the signature.

Creating an E Signature comes with a set of standard conditions to ensure the security and validity of the signature.

Pros of Electronic Signature?

Accelerate the process of your business

What if you don’t have to hold off any progress in your business until the return of those documents you couriered to several of your contractors, signed and back to you?

What if this very simple but fundamental act to your business could be done away within a matter of seconds over online, using electronic signatures?

Keep things simple but secured

Not only can signing documents online makes things simple but it can also eliminate forgery, depending on the kind of E sign you’re using.

The advanced form of Electronic Signature, referred to as Digital Signature is highly secured against fraud and tampering of signed documents.

Ensure you get what is being signed up for

Too very often, documents are signed but the information required to be filled in is either inaccurate or simply left blank, leaving the said documents invalid or useless.

Signing an online document with E-signature means it ensures all the mandatory information is filled before it is accepted.

Be done away with the sad old never-ending paper works

Save your time, energy, waste of paper, and maybe your nerve involved in the shuffling of paperwork back and forth.

All of which could be invested in building a more robust relationship with your clients and customers by bringing the much-needed ease in legalizing a business transaction.

When in Rome do as the Romans do

As the business world transits into the age of digitalization, it’s best if you adapt to technology trends as soon as you can, put efforts into staying a step ahead and updated.

If it’s not to gain a competitive advantage, at least not to be left behind and out of the game altogether.

Cons of Electronic Signature

Not all of Electronic Signature is highly secured

While using E sign brings convenience, not all forms of electronic signatures are risk-proof, a basic E sign such as ticking boxes, scanning images, and typing names comes without cryptographic protection of the document.

It takes two to play the game

In singing contracts through electronic signatures, it would require both/all parties involved, the sender, and the signee(s) to purchase the certificates for the E sign to use it.

Cost-Benefit equation

The most crucial consideration before taking the plunge into E sign would be the cost.

Adopting technology often requires investment and operational cost, while Electrical Signature can save cost in many other aspects of the business, it itself cost expense.

So the decision to adopt Electrical Signature largely depends on your calculation of how much it would cost and how much it could save you.

So is Electronic signature a good idea or a bad idea?

Any update in your business automation is always a good idea. Although, it would still depend on the type of business you are into and the kind of work involved.

The indisputable advantages of E sign trumps over the disadvantages that could be nitpicked out.

Weigh your pros and cons of using e-signature and ask yourself if Electrical Signature is a good or a bad idea, for your business. And get a resounding yes!

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