Using Digital Forms

As an international business with customers all over the world, we want to make doing business with us as easy as possible. We will therefore accept digital signatures on certain forms through regulatory compliant digital signature service providers that satisfy our security and governance protocols.

The Benefits of using Digital Signatures

• Business does not always have to be conducted face-to-face, saving time and money – you can send paperwork to clients via email, rather than having to travel to obtain a wet signature.
• Clients can sign their documentation on their PC or mobile device, making it more convenient for them to complete transactions in all business scenarios.
• Digital signatures are secure, providing an audit trail to the client’s device and email address.
• It is more environmentally friendly.

What do I need?

If you don’t already have a digital signature service, you will need to sign up for one. In choosing a provider suitable for your needs you should ensure suitability against your requirements, including consideration of areas such as security, cost and usability.

If you are not familiar with digital signatures, the videos below from two such providers* may provide some useful information to help you decide which platform could be right for you.

• DocuSign: How it works
• Adobe Sign: Using Adobe Sign

Our requirements

Accepted providers

Whilst we are unable to recommend a particular digital signature service provider, we will only accept digital signatures through a provider that we have reviewed. Our review ensures that the provider meets our security and governance requirements, in order to protect the customer and ourselves.

If you submit a document digitally signed using a provider we have not encountered, this may result in your transaction being delayed whilst we complete our review. The provider may also be declined if they do not meet our requirements, meaning that the instruction will need to be resubmitted.

The current list of providers we have reviewed and deemed to meet our security and governance requirements are as follows*:

• Adobe
• AlphaTrust
• Docusign
• Dokobit
• Dropbox Sign
• PandaDoc
• Scrive
• SignatureNet
• Namirial
• Telia
• Visma Sign
• Zoho Sign

*In providing these details, Utmost is not recommending or endorsing the providers and cannot be held responsible for any financial or reputational losses arising due to failures or deficiencies caused by any digital signature service provider.

Authorisation Certificates

To be acceptable, every digitally signed document must be accompanied by an authorisation certificate or supporting audit document. The digital signature service you select will have its own audit process.

Signature Validity

Digitally signed forms should follow the same signatory requirements as when providing wet signatures, as relevant for the activity, i.e. a valid digital signature is required from the policyholder/s, or a party/ies with the authority to act on the policy.

All instructions digitally signed by the client must match the email address we hold on file. We verify this using the audit report referenced above. Where this differs, we may be unable to accept the instruction.

When is a digitally signed document not accepted by Utmost?

There are some instances where a digitally signed document is not accepted.  These include:

• Signing of the document requires witnessing; typically in relation to a Deed (i.e. Trust Deed, Deed of Assignment), power of attorney or court order.
• The document has been digitally signed using a digital signature provider not on Utmost’s approved list.
• The digital signature does not have an audit trail.
• The document is not fully secure, e.g. it is possible to edit a digital signature that has been applied.
• The email of the individual signing digitally is not known/ the email linked to the digital signature does not match the email that Utmost has on record.
• Combined digital and “wet ink” signatures are non-permissible (including scanned PDF), as the security and audit trail surrounding the digital signatures is lost.
• Certain jurisdictions where local rules in relation to digital signatures can result in adverse regulatory and tax consequences.

Please note that this list is not exhaustive and Utmost reserves the right to reject a digitally signed document at any time.

FAQ

Why can’t Utmost just accept all digital signature service providers?

Digital signature service providers use varying technology and have different security and governance processes. It is therefore important that Utmost ensures that a provider we accept meets our requirements, which are based on various factors including the requirements of the regulators in the jurisdictions that we operate.

Why is compliance with the European Union’s eIDAS Regulation no longer acceptable?

A digital signature service provider should be compliant with the EU eIDAS Regulation in order to enable Utmost to accept their usage, however there are also other regulations and standards that have to be met, which may have different requirements. Compliance with the EU eIDAS Regulation alone therefore may not be sufficient to meet all of Utmost’s requirements.

Contact Information

For further assistance, please contact our Customer Support teams:

Disclaimers

Utmost International reserves the right to decline to act on the digital signature and to insist on the originals or to call the client to confirm the instruction.

Utmost International cannot be held responsible for any financial or reputational losses arising due to failures or deficiencies in your digital signature package.