Case Study - Finance E-Signing for Banking Processes Company One of the most innovative savings banks in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. Challenge Wherever possible, the Savings Bank wants to reduce the usage of paper in its workflow. Thus it is necessary to capture the handwritten signature in a trustworthy manner and embed it into the document process reliably to achieve proof of non- repudiation. Solution Signing without paper Customers of Sparkasse Rastatt- Gernsbach sign documents at the consultants desk without paper on SOFTPROs SignPad eSignio & The Rastatt-Gernsbach Savings the SignPad eSignio with SignDoc SignDoc for Adobe Reader in Bank is asking their customers to combination with the electronic sign digitally on signature tablets forms in PDFplusX format since 2006. Four years after the provided by Adobe LiveCycle start they summed up their document server for signing in experience for this report. the free Adobe Reader. Around 75% of all contracts SOFTPRO‟s software SignDoc and Benefit previously signed using pen and Adobe„s LiveCycle technology are paper are now signed securing the authenticity and • Increased focus on the electronically. New account integrity of electronic documents. customer experience with opening, modification, and • Signatures are digitized more time for consulting deletion has been the primary throughout the writing process instead of managing a paper application. Currently under on the display of the SignPad workflow investigation for e-signing is cash eSignio. deposits and withdrawals. • Effective relief of routine tasks • The SignDoc software links the • Lowered costs in internal captured data with the signed workflow from reduced document content. printing, scanning. indexing, archiving, transporting, etc. The digital processing of the Together with the individual • Straight-through-processing signature is perceived by biometric characteristics of a reduces errors resulting from customers as an innovative signature an electronic signature the content transfer from feature. The Savings Bank is one with a high level of proof is paper to digital media step ahead (similar to their created. Every modification after • Automatic archiving , fast slogan) with the help of SOFTPRO the signing ceremony is recorded, access to electronic SignPad and has a competitive the integrity value is created. This documents for auditing advantage over their competitors. integrity value and the signature data set is stored with a time • Easy and transparent auditing stamp in the document for future - who signed what, when, and verification. where SignPad & SignDoc @ Rastatt-Gernsbach Savings Bank SignDoc SignDoc ensures the authenticity and Attractive RoI integrity of electronic documents of Rastatt-Gernsbach Savings Bank : In addition to the image of the signature a Soon after the introduction of E- signed document contains biometric Recommended information that is recorded throughout Signing in 2006 substantial for model the signing. These are signals by time, savings were recorded in the sales location and different pressure levels process of Sparkasse Rastatt- * which allow to create a unique profile of a particular signer. Gernsbach. One third of the P employees that dealt with process of Savings Bank control and archiving are now Finance Group The data of the signature are working on other tasks in the inextricably linked to the document directly after signing using Adobe‟s bank. technology for digital signatures. The state of the document at the time of the signing of documents is recorded by an By switching to digital documents integral value (“hash”). This allows to in the financial industry studies detect a subsequent manipulation to the have detected a savings potential document after the signing process. of up to two Euros per document. 0110001101010011000110111010 When the system is in full operation the purchase price for Günther Hierth & hardware and software is recovered in a very short time. 0110001101010011000110111010 Important & Innovative Potential for further Optimization E-Signing is one of the most The use of SignPads may results in important components to optimize additional enhancements in its the workflow of deposits in the workflow in the future: The Rastatt- savings banks. Gernsbach Savings Bank may leverage signature data captured In 2009, the Spanish savings bank on SignPads for the automatic financial group won the Innovation verification of signatures in Award of the Association of IT payment processing. security TeleTrusT for the roll-out of paper less signing in their branches. The application was largely inspired by the results of the Rastatt Gernsbach savings bank , other German savings banks and their processing center Finanz Informatik. Dietmar Lehmann, Chief Operation Officer at Rastatt-Gernsbach Savings Solution Aspects Bank about Electronic Signing : „We have clearly reduced the amount of paper in product sales and The electronic documents are eliminated the media break. Three-quarters of pen pad enabled contracts processed in the free Adobe are now signed electronically. Reader as a PDF file. The high usage rate is firstly due to the fact that we have adapted our processes consistently to the new medium. For example we no longer Form template s are provided require a second signature in some cases. through the Adobe LiveCycle On the other hand, we embed the functionality for electronic content Document Server. management provided by our processing center Finanz Informatik into our workflow, for example to forward contracts electronically to our sales team For the recording and verification for further processing. of signatures SOFTPROs SignDoc - The employee opens a signature capturing window in an electronic was closely intertwined with the document. technology for digital signatures - He asks the customer to sign. from Adobe. - The customer receives a printout. The signed documents are - The document for the savings bank is transferred directly to the archive transferred instantly to the central or in an electronic folder if any further processing is required.“ archive (CSP) of the processing * Modell P is part of the model organizations of the Savings Bank Finance Group. The concept centre Finanz Informatik which for the business in deposits and services was jointly developed by the German Savings Bans and stores all other data about Giro Association (DSGV), all regional associations and eleven project savings banks. It is in use customers and accounts of the since 2006. Besides improving efficiency primarily to further expand the service quality is a priority. The electronic signature with pen pads in the central document archive (ZDA) is Rastatt-Gernsbach Savings Bank . considered being one of the most important elements of “Modell P”. SignPad & SignDoc @ Rastatt-Gernsbach Savings Bank SignDoc Trustworthy Process Laws for electronic signatures vary around the globe. It is important to understand that laws on electronic transactions typically include laws and regulations on Electronic Signatures. Only in some cases separate bills exist for e- signatures. Since the time when the first versions of these laws were created (e.g. 1997: Germany, Malaysia; 1998: Singapore) there was no such option as a "trustworthy capturing and verification of handwritten signatures, including static images and dynamic (biometric) characteristics" that allowed creating a reliable e-signature based on a digitized handwritten signature ("biometric signatures") in the same manner as now introduced at Berliner Sparkasse. As a consequence, laws usually Rastatt-Gernsbach Savings Bank is signing paper less on the SignPad eSignio – the joint reflect primarily on "digital development of SOFTPRO und Wacom. The software for the electronic signing of SOFTPRO signatures" (e-signatures created SignDoc – is already in use there since 2006 – a time when the SignPads were in initial in a public key infrastructure development. [PKI]). However, digital signatures can simply be considered a subset of electronic signatures. Marc Bourdos, project leader is convinced of SignPad eSignio: In the 1999 European Directive, a "As E-Signing pioneers the Sparkasse Rastatt-Gernsbach dealed framework for electronic extensively with various signature pads. When we started e-signing back in signatures (1999/93/EU) opened 2006, we had to make compromises when selecting the equipment . a broader technological approach for this industry. Law makers are We phase out these tablets now and have introduced SignPads with the now also gradually reflecting superior capturing technology by Wacom. Our customers enjoy the large "biometric signatures". The screen, ergonomic design, the ultra-sharp display of their signature and we embedding of dynamic signatures have robust and durable devices." as introduced at Rastatt- Gernsbach Savings Bank results in the creation of an electronic signature with a high level of proof. Legal experts define this kind of e- Copy Protection Success Modell SignPad eSignio signing as "a legal surrogate equivalent to the conventional The SignPad eSignio is the best- method of signing with ink on The signature of the customer is securely bound to the electronic selling signature pad in the paper, and thus similarly fulfilling Savings Banks Financial Group. It the same formal intention to sign document he has signed. On the one hand a document loses its was developed by the pen tablet of the written paper form." In other specialists Wacom in close words, electronic signatures based validity if any