NEWTON, Mass. Widespread customer use of electronic signatures in financial transactions appears to be several years away, according to a report from Meridien Research.
The broad use of e-signatures will begin no earlier than next year, Meridien said in its report, The Case of the Invisible Ink: E-Signatures, which cited inconsistent implementation and differing processes across financial institutions and transaction types as the reasons for the slow adoption.
The immediate impact of e-signature technology will occur in business-to-business or internal applications, where employees, departments, and partners use digital signatures and certificates in a closed, limited-user environment, said Tom Richards, research director at Meridien.
Implementations in less-complex transaction processes and environments where economies of scale can be realized will be first, he said. It will be a while before consumers may see a benefit in closing a loan at an ATM or at their PC.
