Advanced and Qualified Electronic Signatures are electronic signatures that comply with EU Regulation 910/2014 on eIDAS electronic transactions in the European internal market. They enable long-term verification of electronic signatures. Today, we explain the difference between Qualified and Advanced Electronic Signatures, both in terms of legal status and technical requirements.

FinTechs aim to bring the data, tech and UX (user experience) centric approach of technology firms into the mainstream financial services sector. Banks are no strangers to voluminous data, but technology firms have succeeded by using that data to spot patterns and predict customer behavior in a way that has given them market dominance. By using similar principles and tailoring their product offerings accordingly, FinTech firms have successfully created a sub-niche for themselves in the payments industry.

With eIDAS, the European Commission has provided a powerful yet flexible toolset for developers, consultants and companies to build tools to cater to their specific needs. Each sector of the economy, right from financial services to retail or logistics, has a unique set of requirements but eventually they all can create helpful solutions using the eIDAS apparatus. In this series, we look at some sector specific case studies on how companies can leverage the new and more powerful tools that have been made available to them.

September 2019 will usher in a new paradigm in terms of online payment security and trust. September is the month when the requirements for Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) under the Revised Payment Service Directive (PSD2) will go live in the European Economic Area. Most payment processors and service providers are already working on implementing the same as the Regulatory Technical Standards (RTS) for Strong Customer Authentication were defined and adopted in 2017 itself.

For many banks, Trade Finance is a sizeable contributor to both their Fee and (NII) Net Interest Incomes. From simple products like Letters of Credits and SBLCs, to complex Structured Trade Finance products – banks play a key role in greasing the cogs of the international trade machine. The reason these products exist is two-fold. Firstly, it is about financial leverage in the form of short-term working capital. But more than that – it is about creating trust.

 Imagine a scenario where a small company is importing a million dollars’ worth of goods for local distribution. A signature mismatch in one of the shipping or trade financing documents is raised as an exception and the whole transactions gets delayed. The goods sit at the port incurring demurrage and other charges, the supply chain is disrupted, the distributors don’t have the goods that they have pre-sold, the financing charges continue to ramp up and a profitable trade has now turned into a nightmare!

Under eIDAS, the EU aims to facilitate cross-border digital transactions and pave the way for a Digital Single Market. Qualified electronic signatures and seals play a decisive role with this goal. Thanks to eIDAS, users can obtain both as a service via remote signing/sealing as well. How do users benefit from it? And what do trust service providers need to implement?

We often talk about the benefits of e-signatures for businesses. There are some that apply to every organization, such as the cost and efficiency benefits, but there are certain industries that experience more advantages than others from the switch to e-signatures.

eIDAS has helped herald a new era of e-signing for businesses operating across Europe. E-signatures provide a fast, secure, efficient and cost-effective alternative to paper signing and the eIDAS regulation ensures legal certainty across the EU with its requirements for Basic, Advanced and Qualified e-signatures.