Digital agreement and security solutions bring trust and efficiency to virtual transactions

In this article, credit card advice website CardRates.com profiles OneSpan's eSignature solution and security features such as digital identity verification. 

Summary: Digital solutions allow companies to gather eSignatures and complete smart forms efficiently. OneSpan helps companies update and manage their agreement processes to improve customer experiences. The company provides identity verification tools to make sure businesses meet security and compliance standards. OneSpan prides itself on service and offering value to its customers.

Anyone who’s worked for a large corporation knows that projects can require a string of signatures from senior company officials to advance to their next stage. Sometimes, tracking the right parties down and obtaining their approval for a proposal or a section of a project can take as long to complete as certain phases of the project itself.

Digital solutions allow employees to capture signatures electronically and avoid presenting physical documents to the party whose signature they require. Digital signatures can save employees time and reduce the use of paper in the workplace.

OneSpan provides security, identity, electronic signature, and digital workflow solutions that protect and facilitate digital transactions and agreements. We spoke with Sameer Hajarnis, OneSpan’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of Digital Agreements, to learn more about the company’s innovative solutions and how it safeguards a financial institution’s information.

OneSpan originated in the Canadian province of Quebec. Its founders formed the company under a different name before the enactment in 2000 of The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, otherwise known as the E-Sign Act. The E-Sign Act sets standards for authenticating and collecting signatures on electronic documents and forms.

OneSpan’s efforts at that time included developing automated workflows for digital signatures.

“The company started off as pioneers in the industry in the period before Bill Clinton signed the E-Sign Act,” Hajarnis said. “And they worked with a lot of government customers back then, including members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to make sure they were getting documents and workflows automated. There was a lot of education going on back then to inform people that electronic signatures were okay.”

When companies first introduced the concept of digital signatures to stakeholders, many people were skeptical that they could replace physical signatures. Hajarnis said companies creating solutions in the digital agreement space spent significant time convincing businesses that digital signatures were just as valuable as those captured on paper.

OneSpan operates in more than 100 countries worldwide and authenticates more than 10 billion transactions annually. Consumers may not be familiar with the company’s name because its technology operates behind the scenes of interfaces consumers access.

“If you open an account or sign up for a mortgage with a bank in North America, then you’ve probably used our technology to sign up for the product or service,” Hajarnis told us. “Our products are deployed with private labeling, which gives the bank or the organization reaching out to consumers complete control over the brand experience. That brings a lot of trust into the whole agreement process.”

A growing business meets market demands

OneSpan’s motivations differentiate the company from its competitors. Hajarnis said OneSpan’s founders weren’t focused on promoting the company’s name within the industry but were primarily concerned with driving the adoption of its products. That culture still exists within the company today.

“We want to make sure people are actually using our software and not just having it sit on a shelf somewhere,” Hajarnis said. “That’s really in our core DNA for the entire company. Obviously, eSignatures today are ubiquitous and nobody’s questioning the legality of them, but  now it’s all about the trust, security, and experience contained in the solutions.”

OneSpan’s business has expanded over the last decade. Hajarnis attributes the company’s growth to several factors.

The COVID-19 pandemic changed how many businesses operate. Hajarnis said support for digital and automated products grew during the pandemic when many in-person services were restricted and businesses sought to create digital channels to interact and transact with their customers online.

Another factor that has increased demand for OneSpan’s services is the move by businesses to digitize their records. OneSpan can help companies digitize their archives to allow for more streamlined storage practices.

Businesses strive to create positive experiences for customers so they will want to engage with the company again the next time they require their services. Hajarnis said businesses that want to create a positive experience for their customers should simplify their processes, and digitization is one way they can accomplish that.

Younger consumers may be more open to digitization than their more senior counterparts, according to Hajarnis. He said that when he was preparing to take his daughter to college, he informed her that she should visit a local bank to open accounts she could access while away at school. She expressed surprise that her father recommended she visit a bank branch to complete a task she could most likely complete online.

“Demographics have changed to the point where everyone is pretty comfortable with online and mobile transactions,” Hajarnis said. “If you think about what it was like even ten years ago, people wouldn’t spend a few thousand dollars online to buy something through an eCommerce site. But now, people buy all sorts of big-ticket items and luxury goods online, including cars.”

People’s growing willingness to purchase more expensive items online has pushed adoption of OneSpan’s digital tools.

Verification tools help companies combat fraud

OneSpan’s customers enjoy the convenience the company extends through its digital tools. But the company’s products wouldn’t be valuable if they weren’t secure. Hajarnis said OneSpan aims to ensure that its customers trust its products and feel comfortable that its eSignature solutions work as intended.

As companies develop improved security measures, bad actors search for vulnerabilities in their systems to gain access to information stored behind firewalls. OneSpan helps businesses verify the identities of their customers and prospects to help them mitigate fraud and grow their customer base.

OneSpan enables its solutions with numerous security features. Hajarnis said the company enables businesses to complete high-value transactions with online customers. OneSpan doesn’t rely on legacy security models, which fraudsters may be able to exploit.

To further drive product adoption, OneSpan offers solutions at prices that fit its customers’ budgets.

“We take great pride in saying that we provide the best value in the market,” Hajarnis said. “That doesn’t mean we’re the cheapest option in the market, but we provide our solutions at a price that allows our customers to grow their businesses without worrying about the costs of the services we offer. We’ve kind of created a disruptive pricing model to allow people to scale their businesses as opposed to penalizing them for growing.”

Artificial intelligence is an emerging technology, and security experts may not understand its impact on fraudulent practices for many years.

Fraudsters can use AI to circumvent security measures and deceive businesses they wish to harm. Hajarnis said criminals will use AI more as they become more familiar with how to manipulate a business’s security protocol.

OneSpan employs an arsenal of security practices to thwart individuals attempting to pose online as someone they’re not. The company verifies identities by reviewing government-issued forms of identification and performing liveness checks, which use technology to ensure that individuals communicating with a company are who they claim to be.

“I don’t think deep fakes are happening every 10 seconds in every single transaction that takes place today,” Hajarnis said. “But it’s going to be something that’s going to be extremely prevalent, and we need to look at it closely to determine how we can best help companies detect and manage it. We are working with our vendors in the ecosystem to enhance technologies that we need to help solve this problem for our customers.”

Taking pride in serving businesses of all sizes

Renowned American businessman and philanthropist Warren Buffett once said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.”

Businesses that don’t safeguard their customers’ information can see their reputations damaged in the court of public opinion. OneSpan’s solutions help businesses of all sizes uphold their reputations and protect customer data.

OneSpan served mostly larger businesses when it first started. But Hajarnis said small businesses can afford the company’s solutions and are more likely to engage with OneSpan than they were just five years ago.

OneSpan’s eSignature capabilities help businesses gain efficiencies.

“You don’t need to invest a million dollars to digitize a workflow, especially if you’re a smaller business like a bagel shop that just needs to digitize vendor management or procurement processes,” Hajarnis said. “We serve customers that are a variety of sizes — from small businesses to the largest enterprises. But, historically, I would say it’s companies who have more than 1,000 employees that tend to do a lot more digital workflows with us.”

OneSpan prides itself on its customer service. Hajarnis said the company’s customer service is among the best in the industry. OneSpan is committed to seeing its customers succeed and ensuring they get the most value from their investments in the company’s solutions.

As Hajarnis looks toward the future, he told us he envisions OneSpan investing more money to enhance its eSignature capabilities. The company aims to use newer technologies, including generative AI, to improve the productivity of customers who sign and send documents with eSignatures.

“As you see more transactions happening online, that just creates a broader surface for malicious actors to work with,” Hajarnis said. “We’ll keep watching out for that for our customers so we can continue to help them provide good workflows to the end consumers.”

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This article was first published on CardRates.com on July 30, 2024. Authored by Andrew Allen.