In a world where doing business remotely has become the norm overnight has made electronic signatures a hot topic. In the absence of face to face interaction, the need for obtaining consent or approval electronically has grown exponentially. Even the sort-of-digital ‘print, sign, scan and email’ solution has shown itself to be unwieldy and impractical when clients no longer have access to the office printer.
Ninety One Investment Platform introduced Docusign for instruction approval five years ago and it is available for use across our entire suite of transactions. It is fast, secure and fully audited; helping you save time, money and the environment. When it’s not possible to meet and obtain a physical signature, it’s the obvious solution.
Docusign has a broad product offering that caters for all sizes of business, from large corporates like Ninety One to one-person practices. If you want to turn other types of agreements and approvals into digital processes then there’s a good chance that Docusign can help you to do that. Take a look here to see what they offer.
The legality of electronic signatures varies by jurisdiction and purpose. Ninety One went through a thorough compliance, legal and risk due diligence process before introducing electronic signatures into our business, and we did so once we were satisfied that it complied with all applicable laws. If you’re wondering how this might apply to your business, you can read about the legality of electronic signatures in South Africa here.
Simply put, once you have started an account with Docusign you can log in to their web portal, upload any document you wish to get signed, add signatories and send it for signature. The signatories receive emails notifying them of what needs to be signed and you can track and manage the whole process from your login. Here’s a more detailed description of how it works, or go ahead and try it yourself.
Using Docusign as described above takes very little effort to implement. There is no software to install, servers to manage or developers to hire. You will need to design the processes that embed digital approval into your operations, but beyond that all you need to do is subscribe to the pricing plan that is appropriate for your business.
There are a number of other solutions that provide a similar service to Docusign and it is always prudent to review several of these before determining which, if any, is suitable to your needs. We have provided some guidance on Docusign because of our long history and experience with them. For further information, please visit some of the resources provided in this article or contact your sales consultant.
Download our step by step guide to sign documents digitally today