Most of us have experienced the frustration of chasing hand-written signatures. This can be a long and expensive process, especially when the people whose signatures are required are unable to meet, are far away, or just have very busy schedules. Electronic signatures simplify the act of signing documents significantly, which makes it strange that many people and organisations aren’t using them – particularly when they’re perfectly legal, for most transactions but you should do an Electronic Signature Assessment, to find out if it will work for you.
How Electronic Signatures can help you
Electronic signatures have been legal in South Africa for more than a decade. They can be just as legally binding as handwritten signatures, and are often far simpler to get. Where hand-written signatures can be time-consuming and expensive to get, electronic signatures can be as quick, cheap, and straightforward as email. More advanced electronic signatures, which could be used for more serious matters, are also easy to get by using the right technology.
Michalsons doesn’t sell Electronic Signature solutions, but we can advise how you can use them legally to enhance and simplify your organisation.
Are you ready for Electronic Signature Assessment?
Electronic signatures can help most business sign up customers fast, close deals quickly, and reduce paper-driven processes. But, in working out whether you’re ready for them – you need to ask yourself:
- What documents do you want to sign yourself, have others sign for you, or help others sign electronically? – not all documents can be signed electronically and some require special kinds of electronic signature.
- What is your role when it comes to electronic signatures and where do you sit in the ecosystem? – some people just want to use electronic signatures themselves, while others want to provide electronic signature solutions to others.
- What kinds of technologies do you want to use or help others implement when it comes to electronic signatures? – technologies range from simple email signatures to complex cryptographic solutions.
- What kinds of people do you mainly want to sign documents with as counterparties? – some people want to sign up the man on the street, while others need to deal with directors of companies
We can help you answer these questions with our online Electronic Signature Assessment questionnaire and tell you whether you’re ready to go paperless or not.
Based on the information you provide, we’ll either send you an email with next steps to take, or set up an Electronic Signature Assessment call with you to discuss how you can legally use electronic signatures to enhance and simplify your organisation.
