Are e-signatures legally binding?

Source: Scrive

Are e-signatures legally binding?

For 99.99% of all documents, the answer is a solid “yes”. Contract law world wide typically honours any agreement where the parties’ intentions to become bound are clearly stated. A handshake, phone recording, fax, paper signature and e-signature are all valid.

Identity

How do I prove the identity of the signing parties?

When selling a car, or a phone with a leasing contract, an ID check decreases fraud risk. When selling cloud services, the only risk is one missed payment. Available technologies for counterpart identification include eID, two-factor authentication via PIN by SMS and taking a photo of an ID.

Evidence

What evidence can I show later? Is the evidence material legally durable? Will it hold up in court?

A document signed on paper provides a high quality of evidence. Electronic evidence is easy to fabricate, but a conscious decision to design for legal durability means that evidence materials such as email, SMS and chat dialogues are rarely disputed in legal proceedings. Solid evidence material makes the document 100% independent of any third party. It is always a good idea to keep any correspondence that can serve as evidence.

Acceptance

Are e-signatures widely accepted?

An e-sign service is only as good as the trust of the party who signs and the party who accepts the signed document.

Mohrbooks trust Scrive.com. It has earned the trust of hundreds of companies, including some of the strongest global brands. Customer enthusiasm to e-sign is very high, and third parties that don’t yet support receiving electronic documents, for technical or company policy reasons, are becoming increasingly rare.