Elevating E-Signature experience with QES – highlights from Foxit and ZealiD webinar

Echoing a recently announced ZealiD QES partnership with Foxit eSign, a joint webinar gave the leaders of both companies an opportunity to present and discuss this product upgrade in a highly interactive way. Besides covering the benefits and use cases of this integration, the event also featured a live DEMO and a Q&A session at the end.

Together, these segments reveal the weight of QES in business interactions, demonstrate the scope of businesses that must stay in line with eIDAS regulation, and highlight the features that set QES apart from other signing alternatives (simple or advanced signatures, for example). To extend the value of this webinar and address some of the most common questions about the partnership, today we’re coming back with a summary of the event.

You can watch the webinar recording here:

The strong and unique legal and security network behind QES is, without a doubt, the centerpiece of this partnership. Standing above simple (SES) and advanced electronic signatures (AES) that Foxit users relied on before the recent product upgrade, it is a legal equivalent to hand-written signatures - and often a must for remote interaction with financial and government entities. “If we want to have a technology or system that proliferates, we need to have standards. That’s where the eIDAS regulation and ETSI standards come in. eIDAS stipulates two kinds of regulated identity: eID (only supported on a national level so far), and qualified certificates. QES is an expression of the latter, and having such a strong regulatory network behind it makes QES not only secure and fully compliant but also future-proof. Besides, It’s mandatory for all authorities and courts all over the EU and EEA to accept them,” said our CEO Philip Hallenborg.

Another major point that gives QES a competitive edge over hand-written signatures is the signing cycle and operational costs that come with it. “Paper signatures have costs tied to them, amounting to 21-24 dollars per agreement. Those include shipping expenses, processing, security and archiving,” noted Foxit’s Country Sales Manager Timm Hoffmann. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg: paper signatures also come with an ecological footprint, the risk of data loss (in which case the cycle needs to be repeated), and require a significant amount of manual work.

That’s where ZealiD QES really stands out. Once the onboarding process is complete, a smartphone with ZealiD app is the only thing a user needs to sign a document. It fits in seamlessly with the user-centric approach that Foxit takes toward their product. “Our document and agreement templates are easily editable and shareable, no matter whether our user needs to request just one signature or thousands of them. Users can even manage and sign their agreements offline, and simply sync their data once they go online again. QES is the final step to finalizing those agreements in a secure and user-friendly way,” added Mahender Bist, Head of Foxit eSign.

Foxit’s Timm Hoffmann also covered the typical use cases for each of the three types of eSignatures. He noted that, whereas SES is a good fit for some internal documents, NDAs and T&Cs, and AES can cover insurance agreements, health records and intellectual property agreements, QES is undoubtedly the most secure solution. In addition to covering all the use cases noted above, it is the only remote signing option for government-issued documents, financial agreements, and other high-risk and/or high-value agreements.

In terms of QES security features, our CEO Philip Hallenborg added three more points:

• Since QES is tied to personal identity and QTSPs are closely regulated by EU authorities, signatures can easily be validated.
• Privacy and GDPR standards are built into the legal framework of QES, driving accessibility and future-proof compliance.
• With QES, full liability for compliance, identities and information security under EU authorization falls to the QTSP.

“We pride ourselves in security and compliance, particularly when it comes to our solutions. This partnership is a reflection - and an extension - of that,” M. Bist noted. 

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