Yes! Electronic Signatures are 100% legally binding in nearly every jurisdiction around the globe, including the U.S. and E.U.

Furthermore, electronic signatures are actually MORE difficult to forge than a traditional ink signature, because of the digital “fingerprinting” left at time of signature.

For all paying accounts, expert witnesses are available for court appearance or deposition in the highly unlikely event enforcement assistance is needed.

Each e-Signature done on the Swift Signature platform also carries an audit trail, and optional SwiftCloud-account security requirements.

For some exciting reading, we encourage you to review specific laws for your area, such as…

United States: ESIGN Act of 2000, UETA (Uniform Electronic Transactions) Act European Union: Electronic Signatures Directive of 1999 & 1993 Various other countries

UPDATED: Country-specifics list started:

Brazil

Practically speaking, enforcement for most civil contracts requires a subscriber’s willingness to sue and take the matter to court. For our part, we are frankly looking forward to making a few examples of anyone attacking the status and legal authenticity of the signatures, and have a lot to gain (both publicity as well as direct financial damages) by proving this matter.

To aid in enforcement, we have available both expert witnesses and attorneys, and in addition ......More...

Note: if you just want to get a single document signed, we have a tutorial for that here.

If you have a WordPress based website, we recommend seeing our WordPress e-signature setup instructions.

Still reading? Great! It means you want to get a document signed many times – a document template – but are not running WordPress.

That’s no problem – you’ll use SwiftCloud’s native document system, then return the users back to your website. This can also be pre-filled by other webforms, or integrated with various CRMs (besides our own Swift CRM, which is already integrated, of course).

Let’s set one up! First, create a document by logging into SwiftCloud and navigating to Home >> Files & Docs >> New Doc. Give your document a name and click save.

PART 1: Creating the e-signable doc in SwiftCloud

Next, you’ll probably want to copy and paste your document online. We’re working on a fancy uploader for Microsoft Word and other filetypes, but for now, copy and paste is your best bet.

Next, open the doc by clicking on it, and in the top left, you’ll see a blue cloud – that’s us. Click it.

Once open, you’ll have options to ......More...

Electronic Signature & Payment is easy.

In short you have two options:

Get Money then e-Signature or Get e-Signature then Money

Either are fine, and which is right for you depends on the nature of your sale. If you have a smaller amount (and thus more frequent), we recommend collecting money first, then getting signature.

If you have a higher dollar amount, the value of the contract is increased but the contract is usually not in force until consideration (aka payment) is made and thus for more complex contracts you probably want the contract signed first.

Either is fine, and there’s no real wrong answer – in the end the result is the same – you need both.

To setup e-signature then payment via paypal, create your form as usual (at http://swiftcloud.io/form/create-form ) and on the right side you’ll see some options under “User Flow” like this:

There you can choose an e-commerce product or service to auto-redirect the user after signature for payment. In this example, the user will flow from (1.) Your website, to >>  (2.) the signature page, then >> (3.) payment page, then (4.) back to your site for typically a receipt and thanks message confirming what ......More...