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In a world increasingly connected, even across long distances, there are situations where we find ourselves far from the ability to appear in person to handle requests or deal with formal documentation.
While this might be common in business, it also occurs in our personal lives and comes without the resources often easily at hand when it’s only organizations involved. With relatives and friends living around the world, the need does sometimes arise to get in touch with authorities and get official documents or other important details dealt with quickly.
This happened recently for a relative of one of our colleagues here at Taktikal. Informed suddenly that they would need to appear in person in order to present necessary paperwork (identification and signatures) in order to collect a number of documents from abroad for insurance purposes, they realized they would need to try a different approach: digital.
Electronic signatures from abroad
In many industries considered more “traditional”, the face-to-face verification methods are standard. You’re likely familiar with the process. You’re required to appear in person, with your physical identification document, notarized letters, proof of address, last electrical bill, itemized receipt from your dog’s last vet visit…perhaps not that final one. But jokes aside, you’re likely familiar with this often tedious process - one that can certainly add stress to already difficult situations.
However, the accelerated digital transformation that grew out of the hardships faced by businesses in 2020 and 2021 has forced these more traditional, paper and in-person based processes to find new ways to operate in order to ensure the survival of many companies.
It’s not enough that businesses today have the option to email them or chat with their bot on a website. The expectation now has moved towards full workflows being available in a secure, user-friendly interface that allows users to manage processes from signing up, to filing claims, to accepting contracts, to tracking document activity.
These are no longer just nice-to-have features - rather they are increasingly necessary in an interconnected world where we are required to provide private details and are unable to appear in person to do so.
eSigning and international compliance
Handling sensitive documents and providing verified signatures is simpler in some countries than in others, currently. Many European countries have centralized identification systems to allow residents to easily verify their identities digitally and manage various personal documentation.
However, this doesn’t extend beyond borders. While one country might have a system built-in, this won’t translate to a similar system in the next country. So when our colleague’s relative needed to deal with personal documentation in another country, there were questions about how a digital solution could meet the local requirements well enough to prevent them from needing to purchase flights.
Thankfully, there are solutions already on the market that have compliance regulations in mind. With the right level of online identity verification, signatures can be accepted across the EU as well as beyond the continent’s borders. Standard, advanced and qualified signatures can be used electronically in secure portals, shared easily between two parties.
This is exactly the solution that our colleague knew of - it goes without saying, of course, that they knew how simple it could be to send a verified electronic signature. It was just a matter of whether the authorities in another country would accept those credentials via the Taktikal solution. And although it might not come as a surprise: they did.
Simplifying cross-border documentation
Managing business or personal matters in another country can seem daunting. However, at Taktikal, this is something that is taken into consideration with every new update and change to our software as well as to international regulations.
That someone close to the Taktikal team was able to make use of our software for sensitive personal matters and easily handle a situation from abroad is exactly the type of story we love to hear. It’s not just about helping businesses speed up workflows and function in a more digital world, it’s about giving customers or clients of those businesses the opportunity to more easily deal with the tasks that can be difficult, tedious, or even costly in the case that they would otherwise need to appear in person.
Dealing with personal information online can be uncomfortable, but secure, compliant tools help to ensure that your data is secure - in many ways, much more secure than traditional paper-based processes due to factors such as passwords, two- and multi-factor authentication (2FA, MFA), identity verification, and encryption - all of which are part of working with Taktikal.
These measures are universally recognized as encompassing the highest standards of online data security, and are important for businesses and individuals alike. Digital trust involves companies providing an environment where data is secure and also meets the requirements of authorities, and one of our main focus points continues to be making digital trust accessible and simple.