7 Things to Look Out for When Using e-Signatures for Banking: 2025 Threat Update

As the world increasingly shifts toward digital solutions, e-signatures for banking have become an essential part of the banking sector. From loan agreements to account openings, e-signatures for banking streamline processes, reduce paperwork and improve the customer experience. However, with the rapid adoption of digital transformation, especially in banking, it’s crucial to understand the security risks and how to mitigate them. 

In this blog, we explore seven critical things to watch out for when using e-signatures for banking in 2025.

1. Ensure the Authenticity of e-Signatures

The primary concern when using e-signatures for banking is the authenticity of the signature itself. Fraudulent signatures can lead to legal disputes, financial losses, and data breaches. It’s essential to use an e-signature certification solution that supports strong authentication methods, such as multi-factor authentication (MFA), to ensure that only authorized individuals can sign documents.

Solution: Look for e-signature certification that provides a secure, tamper-evident feature. This certification ensures that the signed document cannot be altered once it has been signed. Additionally, verify the authenticity of e-signatures for banking using trusted certificate authorities (CAs).

2. Compliance with Regulatory Standards

The banking industry is highly regulated, and e-signatures for banking must comply with laws such as the eSign Act (in the U.S.), the EU’s eIDAS regulation, and other global data protection regulations. Non-compliance can lead to severe penalties and reputational damage.

Solution: Ensure your e-signature certification is up to date and complies with the latest regulatory standards. Look for solutions that provide comprehensive audit trails, so every action can be tracked and reviewed, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.

3. Protect Against Phishing and Social Engineering Attacks

As cyber threats evolve, phishing and social engineering attacks targeting banking customers are becoming more sophisticated. Fraudsters may attempt to deceive customers into signing fraudulent documents or sharing sensitive information.

Solution: Implement strong identity verification processes during the e-signature process. Incorporate biometrics or other authentication methods to ensure that the signers are who they say they are. Training employees and customers to recognize phishing attempts is also crucial in combating social engineering attacks.

4. Data Integrity and Encryption

When handling sensitive financial information, data integrity is paramount. Unauthorized changes to signed documents could lead to severe legal and financial consequences. Ensuring that all data is securely encrypted during transmission and storage is crucial for protecting both customers and the bank.

Solution: Use e-signature solutions with robust encryption technologies, both for data in transit and at rest. This will protect sensitive data from being intercepted or altered by malicious actors during the signing process.

5. Device and Platform Compatibility

With the rise of mobile banking and remote access, users may sign documents on a variety of devices, including smartphones, tablets, and computers. It’s important to ensure that the e-signature platform supports all platforms and devices to provide a seamless, user-friendly experience.

Solution: Choose a mobile-friendly e-signature solution that works across all operating systems and devices. This will not only improve user experience but also ensure the security of the e-signature process across various platforms.

6. User Experience and Authentication Friction

While security is essential, the e-signature process should not be overly complicated or create friction for users. A lengthy or complex authentication process may discourage customers from completing transactions.

Solution: Balance security with a smooth user experience by implementing frictionless authentication methods. Use solutions that offer Single Sign-On (SSO), digital certificates, or biometric verification, all while ensuring that they don’t compromise security.

7. Regularly Update and Audit e-Signature Systems

As new threats emerge, keeping your e-signature solution up-to-date is essential to maintaining security. A failure to update the system regularly could leave vulnerabilities open for exploitation by cybercriminals.

Solution: Schedule regular audits of your e-signature system and apply security patches and updates promptly. Ensure your e-signature certification includes robust reporting tools to allow for easy audits and compliance checks. Regular updates ensure that the latest security standards are incorporated into the system, reducing the risk of potential attacks.

Why emSigner is the Premier eSignature Platform for Banking

As the banking sector continues its digital transformation, the need for secure, efficient, and scalable e-signature for banking solutions has never been more critical. With emSigner, financial institutions—ranging from large global banks to microfinance organizations—can streamline document management and loan processes. emSigner stands out as the most comprehensive eSignature certification platform available, offering an extensive array of features specifically tailored to meet the needs of the banking industry.

1. Automation for Faster Lending Agreements

Banks and financial institutions are always striving to close lending agreements faster and more efficiently. emSigner helps accomplish this by offering a robust platform that supports Digital Lending, Microfinance, SME Lending, Gold Loans, and Two-Wheeler Loans. Whether it’s a Do It Yourself (DIY) approach or an assisted journey, emSigner ensures that the lending process is seamless and fast.

For banks already using other e-signature vendors, emSigner offers easy integration capabilities, so there is no need for a complete overhaul of the existing system. This eliminates the challenges of change management while ensuring a smooth transition to a more efficient solution.

2. Customer Self-Onboarding (DIY)

One of the standout features of emSigner is its ability to automate the onboarding process for customers. Using e-signatures in combination with NeSL online eStamping, banks and financial institutions can enable customers to complete the onboarding process via a single digital transaction. Whether it’s signing a loan agreement or opening a new bank account, customers can do it all from the comfort of their mobile device or computer, significantly reducing the time spent on paperwork and improving the customer experience.

3. Loan Documentation for Rural Customers

For rural customers, who often have limited access to physical banking services, emSigner plays a vital role in enabling easy loan document signing. Using eSign and eStamping flows, field executives can assist rural customers in completing loan agreements remotely, ensuring that the process is quick, secure, and paperless. This integration of e-signatures for banking improves accessibility and accelerates loan processing for underserved communities.

4. Key Capabilities of emSigner

emSigner stands out with its impressive set of features tailored for the banking industry:

• Comprehensive Workflow Engine and Audit Trails: emSigner offers advanced workflow routing for single and multi-party signatories, along with the ability to create audit trails that enhance compliance and provide transparency for every signed document.
• Flexible Document Signing: Unlike other platforms, emSigner allows for the signing of multi-page documents with dynamic placeholders based on search text, ensuring maximum flexibility. You can sign any document type, including financial contracts, NDAs, and loan documents, with a single click.
• Granular Roles and Entitlements: emSigner provides extensive role management, supporting a maker/checker workflow for improved compliance. Users can be assigned different roles with specific permissions, which is essential for banking institutions dealing with sensitive financial data.
• Selfie Capture and Liveliness Check: To ensure the authenticity of the signing process, emSigner supports selfie capture during the signing process, complete with liveness checks. This feature is crucial for preventing fraud and ensuring that the individual signing the document is who they claim to be.
• Bulk Signing Capabilities: For banks handling large volumes of documents, emSigner allows for bulk signing of up to 1,000 documents in a single click, making it easy to process vast numbers of contracts and agreements quickly.
• Sustainability Reporting: As more institutions embrace e-signature certification for sustainability, emSigner offers detailed reports on paper savings and trees saved, helping banks improve their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) reporting.

5. Integration with Existing Systems

One of the key reasons why emSigner is preferred by financial institutions is its easy integration capabilities. Banks can integrate emSigner with their existing systems in just two simple API calls. This makes it an excellent solution for banks looking to add e-signature for banking capabilities to their existing platforms without major disruptions or significant investment in new technology.

6. Advanced Security and Compliance

Security is a cornerstone of emSigner. With support for e-sign v2/v3, Org eSign, and Bank KYC-based eSign, emSigner ensures that all e-signatures are compliant with global standards, including the eIDAS regulation (EU) and UETA/ESIGN Act (USA). The platform offers end-to-end encryption, ensuring that documents are tamper-proof and securely stored. Additionally, emSigner’s cloud-native infrastructure allows banks to store documents securely while giving clients full control over their data.

7. Data Residency and Cloud Solutions

Unlike many competitors, emSigner offers robust data residency options, including both cloud-native and private cloud solutions. Banks can choose to store their documents on secure AWS storage with key-on-key encryption, or they can use external storage connectors to store PDFs in their preferred storage locations like Google Drive, Azure, or OneDrive. The ability to control where documents are stored ensures compliance with local data residency laws, a critical factor for banks operating internationally.

The Advantages of e-Signatures in Banking

In a previous post, we discussed the rise of contextual banking and the growing need for financial entities to adapt to the digital client’s preference for mobile banking services. For banks, embracing e-signatures for banking is crucial to providing customers with the ability to access services on the go, in line with their digital expectations.

Here are a few key advantages e-signatures for banking offer to the banking sector:

1. Improved Product Sales Times and Financial Services

By adopting e-signatures for banking, banks eliminate the need to print, post, and wait for documents to be signed, drastically reducing the time it takes to finalize transactions. This is especially important for simple processes like opening new accounts. With e-signatures for banking, customers can sign documents from the comfort of their mobile phone or computer, without needing to be physically present at a branch.

For more complex transactions like loans, e-signatures for banking can even speed up the process within physical branches. With a tablet, bank staff can facilitate loan signings on the spot, allowing customers to sign contracts and receive a copy immediately via email.

2. Improved Customer Experience: Immediacy, Speed, and Mobility

Today’s customers demand speed and convenience, and traditional methods of signing documents—like printing, signing, scanning, and mailing—are no longer acceptable. eSignatures for banking provide an immediate, efficient way for customers to sign documents from any device, at any time, and from any location. This satisfies the digital client’s desire for instant results while ensuring data security and legal compliance.

3. Improved Effectiveness of Offices and Employee Productivity

By using e-signatures for banking, bank employees can spend less time on administrative tasks and more time focusing on personalized customer service. Processes such as loan applications or new account openings can be completed quickly and efficiently, allowing employees to build stronger relationships with customers and focus on tasks that drive business value.

4. Errors are Eliminated During the Signing Process

e-signature tools guide clients to ensure all required fields are filled out and signed, reducing the chances of errors or delays. This not only saves time but also ensures that customers’ documents are processed without the risk of missing information or incorrect signatures, leading to smoother workflows and fewer compliance issues.

Conclusion

In 2025, the adoption of e-signatures for banking continues to grow, driven by the need for efficiency, cost savings, and enhanced customer experiences. However, it is critical to address the emerging security threats and ensure compliance with regulatory standards to safeguard against risks. By focusing on e-signature certification, data protection, and robust authentication, banks can mitigate these risks and continue offering secure and seamless digital services.

When using e-signatures for banking, make sure to adopt solutions that meet the highest security standards and stay proactive in protecting your organization and customers against the evolving threat landscape. A well-implemented e-signature certification solution can enhance trust, streamline operations, and protect sensitive financial data.