Introducing Fingerprint eSign: Build accessible digital paperwork journeys

Fingerprint eSign - a way to electronically sign a document with a fingerprint - is the latest addition to Leegality’s BharatSign stack. In this post we will be answering the why, the what and the how of Fingerprint eSign.

Why we built Fingerprint eSign

In an older post, we spoke about how eSign is the necessary first (but not the only) step to digitally transform paperwork processes.

But this statement makes a very big assumption that the signer will actually be able to do the eSign. If a customer can’t eSign, the digital journey breaks down for them.

Current eSign methods are not accessible for 100% of cases.

The accessibility gap of current eSign methods

While there are approximately 12 different types of “eSign” in India - only three are useful for mass scale use (think retail loans, bank account openings/renewals, microfinance etc):

1. Aadhaar eSign via OTP
2. Aadhaar eSign via Biometrics
3. Virtual signatures

However even these eSign types have critical accessibility gaps:

1. Aadhaar eSign via OTP requires customers to have their mobile or email linked to their Aadhaar. About 25-30% of Aadhaar holders DON’T have this linkage OR DON’T have ready access to the mobile device which is linked.
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2. Aadhaar eSign via Biometrics requires customers to be comfortable with using Aadhaar biometric authentication to eSign. While they may be comfortable doing this for rations and government services - a significant portion are not comfortable doing this for signing. Additionally, Aadhaar biometric authentication itself has authentication failures.
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3. Virtual Sign requires customers to know how to sign. A significant chunk of the Indian population doesn’t have a written physical signature.

These problems are exacerbated in areas where network connectivity is also a big issue.

 Because of these accessibility gaps - your digital paperwork journeys can break down completely. Your teams and customers will be forced to revert back to physical paperwork journeys for a significant portion of your user base.

How Fingerprint eSign solves the accessibility gap

The accessibility gap is not unique to eSign. For centuries, physical signing has also faced an accessibility gap when it comes to people who don’t have a written signature. And for centuries, physical signing processes have solved this gap with the most unique part of a person’s body - their fingerprint.

We asked ourselves - “Why not solve the electronic signing accessibility gap in the same way?”

What is Fingerprint eSign?

Through Fingerprint eSign, businesses can collect signatures digitally from their customers, business partners and employees by a simple fingerprint affixture.

Fingerprint eSign is also optimized to work in low network environments - making it robust enough for use in low connectivity environments.

Fingerprint eSign is built for assisted journeys

Fingerprint eSign has been specially designed only for assisted journeys:

1. Branch led paperwork flow: Where the signer comes to your branch to sign paperwork
2. Field led paperwork flow: Where you send field officers to get paperwork signed by the customer

How to setup Fingerprint eSign

Step 1: Obtain and arm your field officers/branch with the necessary biometric devices

Fingerprint eSign works through easy to transport biometric capture devices. You will need to equip your field officers/branches with these devices to make them Fingerprint eSign-ready.

We currently support Mantra MFS-100 Devices. We are also working on introducing support for Morpho 1300 and Precision PB 510 Devices.

Step 2: Setup a Leegality Workflow with Fingerprint eSign activated

Switch on Fingerprint eSign in your Leegality Dashboard master settings - and then create (and save) a workflow with Fingerprint eSign activated for the necessary signers.

Step 3 (optional): Integrate with your LOS/LMS systems if necessary

While the Leegality Dashboard flow is fully automated and ready to use at scale at a branch level - you may still want to perform your digital paperwork flows through your own apps and systems. Not a problem.

Once you’ve setup your Fingerprint eSign workflow in the Leegality Dashboard - simply integrate the Workflow ID with your own software with our Smart API. The best part of our API is it requires extremely little tech team intervention and no tech team maintenance.

And that’s it - you’re done! Your field officers/branch officers will now be able to perform smooth digital paperwork journeys in an accessible way.

Our Fingerprint eSign Webinar

Want a detailed understanding of Fingerprint eSign? Want to know answers to frequently asked questions? On February 17, 2021 we hosted a comprehensive webinar about Fingerprint eSign.

Here's the full recording:

We’re offering you free testing and training for Fingerprint eSign

Interested in incorporating Fingerprint eSign into your paperwork journeys? Want to actually see how it works with your own eyes?

We’re offering you a FREE consultation for Fingerprint eSign where we’ll:

1. Run your team through the feature with a LIVE DEMO
2. Give you a FREE testing account
3. Discuss your use case and help you setup a custom testing workflow

Email us at enquiry@leegality.com to sign up for the consultation!