Remote e-signature specialist, Cryptomathic, has partnered with fidentity, an expert in online identity verification, to enable automated identity verification for qualified remote e-signing - the highest level of assurance under European and Swiss law.

Under the European Union’s eIDAS and Switzerland’s ZertES regulations, remote (QES) provide the highest possible level of security and non-repudiation in e-signature services. To perform a QES, the signer’s identity must first be verified. Until now, this has only been possible via cumbersome and slow manual processes in which physical identity documentation, like a passport, is presented and verified either in-person or via a live video call. Such processes reduce the utility of the remote e-signing model and have been a barrier to widespread QES adoption across the two regions. Cryptomathic and fidentity’s partnership aims to address this problem head-on, by integrating an automated, digitized and legally compliant identity verification process into the remote QES signing experience.

Thorsten Hau, Founder at fidentity said: “As an expert in digitized and automated online identity verification, fidentity is providing the last piece in the puzzle that will enable remote Qualified Electronic Signatures to become accessible to all. By partnering with Cryptomathic, our intent is to marry the two services together to dramatically enhance the end-to-end signing experience for both providers and end-users, which ultimately will accelerate the uptake of this brilliant enabling technology. A smartphone, a valid ID document and a smile is all it will take to complete a legally binding signature.”

Guillaume Forget, EVP e-Signature and Mobile Security at Cryptomathic said: “The provision of accessible, secure and legally binding remote e-signatures services is crucial to the future of digital transformation. While remote Qualified Electronic Signatures answer this need by delivering maximum security and a high level of legal assurance, the process of obtaining the verified identities required to perform the signature has remained cumbersome and off-putting. By uniting fidentity’s digitized and legally assured user experience for identity verification with Cryptomathic’s industry-leading Signer solution, we hope to enable faster and more widespread adoption of highly secure remote e-signatures across Europe and Switzerland.”

The partnership will bring together Cryptomathic’s pioneering e-signature solution, Signer, and fidentity’s KPMG-certified identity verification interface, IDENT. Signer is one of the elite few certified remote Qualified Signature Creation Devices available across EU and Swiss jurisdictions. fidentity delivers a seamless online identity verification service, powered by automation and operating in full compliance with the latest Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA), European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and eIDAS requirements.