SignEasy Marks Homecoming With Launch Of Aadhaar-Enabled E-Signature Solution

Marking as its ‘Homecoming’, San Francisco and Bengaluru-based e-signature solutions startup SignEasy has launched an Aadhaar-based e-signature compliant solution with a fully integrated fill-and-sign document workflow – Aadhaar eSign.

In line with the Indian government’s Digital India initiative, the seven-year-old startup that largely caters to SMBs across the world has localised and elevated the validation process of the existing e-signature processes in India.

Speaking to Inc42 about Aadhaar eSign launch, Sunil Patro, founder and CEO of SignEasy stated, “While catering to the customers across 180 countries and having developed domain expertise in e-signature, we have been looking forward to developing some India-centric solutions for the past few years; solutions that could bring more transparency and trust value to the e-signed documents. Aadhaar made that possible.”

“The Aadhaar framework has the potential to impact a billion people and we’ve been looking forward to introducing a product that can tap into this potential. We take great pride in the fact that we’ve been able to build a world-class e-signature solution from India, and now with the Aadhaar integration, we’re excited for SignEasy to be a part of our country’s digital transformation,” added Sunil.

Founded by Sunil Patro in 2010, SignEasy claims to have over 140K customers across the 180 countries.

Aadhaar eSign: ‘By Indians, For Indians’

The latest e-signature solution launched by the company will help eliminate their dependence on paper-based processes in India.

Sunil noded, “After seven years of delighting users and businesses worldwide while building from India, this marks our Homecoming. A solution, exclusively for Indian users. I’m really excited about how this has shaped up – we’ve been able to bring our globally-loved eSignature experience together with the Aadhaar framework, after having talked to multiple Indian customers. With Aadhaar-enabled authentication, we have truly a developed a solution by Indians, for Indians.”

SignEasy: From E-Signature To Aadhaar eSign

This will the first time that any e-signature solution is providing a fill-and-sign feature along with Aadhaar-authentication. While SignEasy has made it available at both the platform’s web, as well as SignEasy App, the company is also interlinking the App with independent mobile pages to enable people to sign and return the document without bothering to download the app.

Using the platform, any document can get self-attested with or without witnesses and can also be sent to third parties asking their e-signature.

E-signatures were so far limited to either uploading signatures images to the prescribed place as attachments or can be signed onto smartphones using stylus.

With Aadhaar, however, users are asked to get their e-signatures Aadhaar validated. After e-signing the document, the Aadhaar validation prompts to enter the signee’s Aadhaar number. Once the Aadhaar number entered, an OTP is sent to the mobile number for validation.

Speaking of Aadhaar pumping people’s privacy concerns in India, Sunil averred, “Aadhaar number is the best way to e-validate an e-signature. In the entire e-validation process by SignEasy, nowhere the Aadhaar number or users’ personal info is shared. The person on the other end will simply see the signature labelled as Aadhaar verified.”

With an aim to launch an API-based plugin that could be integrated with the online e-forms in near future, SignEasy currently provides a workflow solution suited for everyday business requirements. Document Fields, another advanced feature, helps customers guide their signers through a document, resulting in error-free paperwork.

Akash Gehani, cofounder of Instamojo, a digital payments platform and existing customer of SignEasy commented, “With so many contracts signed and managed regularly, one of Instamojo’s goals is to move to paperless processes. SignEasy’s Aadhaar based e-signatures have made this very simple while enabling us to provide a better experience for our partners.”

E-Signature Market

According to a Forrester’s September 2017 report, e-signature transactions among Indian businesses are expected to cross 90 Mn by 2020. An impressive 78% of the surveyed companies expect to invest in an e-signature solution within the next six to 12 months.

The report further states that only 30% of the market is currently penetrated and overall market has not be addressed well by technology solutions. The market research states that the market for e-Signatures in India is growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 60%, and is expected to cross over 90 Mn transactions by 2020.

In India, besides SignEasy, Docusign and Adobe are some other firms offering e-signature solutions. Adobe has already announced the integration of Aadhaar-enabled e-signature. “Taking the number of customers and number of transactions into account, we are currently one of the top three players in the world,” claims Sunil.

Commenting on increasing competition in the Indian market space, Sreekandh Balakrishnan, Head of Engineering and Operation at SignEasy said, “We, at SignEasy, actually welcome the competition. Space is largely untapped and needs more players to make people aware of the e-signature and their importance.” He further adds, “the company is currently targeting startups and other SMBs which are tech-savvy and understand how e-signature does save their time on a daily basis.”

The Aadhaar-enabled solution will help SignEasy deepen its penetration in India’s SMB market while taking an early lead. Since other players in this space are yet to deploy this solution. Let’s hope the launch marks its perfect homecoming.

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