Summary

Financial institutions looking to implement a digital signature solution must overcome various challenges: ensuring cybersecurity, navigating regulatory compliance, integrating with existing IT infrastructure, improving user experience, and guaranteeing legal validity. Each challenge presents unique complexities, requiring financial institutions to implement secure and compliant solutions. By ensuring robust cybersecurity, regulatory alignment, seamless integration, and user-friendly workflows, banks can successfully navigate this environment. SwissSign’s On-Premise Solution provides a tailored approach that addresses these specific needs while enhancing security and compliance. This is how SwissSign’s On-Premise Solution meets your compliance and security needs.

Challenge 1: Ensuring Data Security in a High-Stakes Environment

The Risk of Data Breaches and Regulatory Scrutiny

Financial institutions handle vast amounts of sensitive data along the client account life cycle, including Customer Identification Data (CID). Cyber threats of all kinds are major concerns for them. 

In addition to external attacks, financial institutions must also protect against insider threats. Employees or contractors with privileged access could expose customer data intentionally or unintentionally. A misconfigured access policy or a security loophole could have devastating consequences, potentially leading to regulatory fines or loss of customer trust.

Beyond financial loss and reputational damage, non-compliance with banking secrecy and data protection laws can result in legal consequences. To mitigate these risks, institutions implement strict data access policies, monitor data movement, and ensure robust encryption mechanisms and go through regulator security audits.

Introducing a signature solution touches all the sensitive internal and customer data, it can be attacked externally or abused internally - and is therefore subject to the strictest protection protocols. For many banks, this effort seems very high compared to the possible risks and returns.  

How Financial Institutions Can Address This Challenge

Understanding data flows and storage locations is critical. Financial institutions have already invested heavily in securing their infrastructure to prevent cyberattacks. Any additional solution must align with their existing security frameworks rather than introduce new vulnerabilities and requirements.

Using a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) signature solution may require redundant compliance processes, such as repeating “Know Your Provider,” security audits, and compliance checkups. Deploying an on-premise solution, by contrast, may ensure a better return on investment, by offering additional layers of security, keeping data within the institution’s own infrastructure. A strong governance framework, with an access management exactly replicating departments and roles in the bank, complemented by automated compliance monitoring, can help mitigate internal risks effectively.
 

How SwissSign Can Help

SwissSign's on-premise installed integrated signing solution is uniquely meeting these criteria for an efficient and secure implementation. It has been developed in close collaboration with leading Swiss financial institutions and is designed to integrate seamlessly with a bank’s existing security infrastructure, eliminating unnecessary vulnerabilities. Integrated connections to malware scanners and Data Leakage Prevention (DLP) tools ensures optimal protection. 

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Challenge 2: Adapting to Diverse Compliance Requirements

Meeting Multiple Local Regulatory Standards

Banks operating in multiple jurisdictions must comply with varying digital signature regulations. In Switzerland and the EU, Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES) are legally equivalent to handwritten signatures and the regulations ZertES and EIDAS outline precisely which criteria need to be met for which level of legal validity. Also, the FINMA Circular 2026/7 provides specific requirements for digital onboarding using electronic signatures in Switzerland. For Swiss retail and cantonal banks serving domestic clients, QES this is the most straightforward solution. 

However, private banks with a global clientele face more complex compliance issues. In the US and other regions, legal requirements differ significantly or are not clear at all. The ESIGN Act in the US defines broad requirements but lacks a standardised implementation criteria e.g. for advanced electronic signatures (AES). In such cases where the Swiss and EU-QES is not explicitly recognised, compliance relies on audit trails and evidentiary documentation proving the authenticity of a signature.

Another major compliance challenge for international banks is maintaining strict data segregation—also known as the "Chinese Wall" principle—to ensure that sensitive information remains isolated between departments and branches. However, implementing multiple instances of a digital signature solution per jurisdiction or branch can lead to excessive operational complexity and high maintenance costs.
 

How Financial Institutions Can Address This Challenge

To respect the different legal requirements across the world, a signature solution needs to be configurable in a very flexible way and also maintain transparent audit trails for each signature, ideally also integrating legal archiving solutions following the principle Write Once Read Multiple (WORM), such as the Hitachi Content Platform. Many API-integrated solution from the cloud hit their limits when it comes to level of adaptability. 

How SwissSign Can Help

SwissSign’s On-Premise Solution is certified to comply with ZertES and EIDAS, ensuring compliance with the named FINMA Circular. In addition to that, it includes an advanced audit trail module that guarantees legally binding signatures while allowing adaptability across global markets. It supports integration with regulatory reporting systems, streamlining compliance processes.

When it comes to the "Chinese Walls", SwissSign's on-premise solution is unique. Developed in partnership with one of the top ten private bank based in Geneva, its multi-tenant capabilities offer the access management and user interface features to seperate jurisdictions, branches and departments and stores the signed documents physically separately. It can be implemented by connecting a dedicated network zone at the customer's infrastructure or connecting directly the storage provided by the branch itself.

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Challenge 3: Seamless Integration with Banking Infrastructure

Overcoming IT Complexity and Compatibility Issues

A digital signature solution has the potential to be a core service for digitising processes that require signatures, approvals, or archiving. However, various departments carrying out these processes and use cases use different technologies, making integration complex. Banks must also support multiple channels for signatures, such as email, chat, customer portals, and mobile apps. Additionally, legacy banking systems like various core banking platforms, CRM, and KYC tools can present significant compatibility challenges.

Signature solutions must also handle high volumes efficiently, especially during peak periods such as year-end financial reporting. Any downtime can disrupt critical banking operations, contract closures and damage customer trust. This is particularly challenging when the solution is managed in one location (e.g., Switzerland) but serves branches and departments across different time zones so that technical support and assistance it not always available to avoid down-time or increase resources to handle unexpected volume. 
 

How Financial Institutions Can Address This Challenge

To achieve seamless integration, financial institutions should adopt API-based signature solutions that work with core banking and CRM platforms. A resilient digital signature system should be scalable, ensuring business continuity even during peak loads. High-availability solutions that support containerised deployment (e.g., OpenShift) or cloud-based infrastructure (AWS, Azure) can provide additional flexibility.

Using a loosely or tightly coupled architecture can also allow financial institutions to integrate digital signatures without overhauling existing IT systems. The solution should support both low-level API integrations for deeply embedded workflows and high-level business APIs to simplify signature processes.
 

How SwissSign Can Help

SwissSign’s On-Premise Solution is based on OpenAPI standards, allowing seamless integration with leading core banking solutions such as Temenos, Avaloq, and FNZ. It supports containerised deployment for maximum scalability and reliability. If a standard API cannot be used, SwissSign offers a development team to assist with customised workflow integrations and third-party solutions that might not be directly compatible with standard APIs.

With extensive experience integrating into banking ecosystems, SwissSign ensures financial institutions can deploy a digital signature solution that fits their existing infrastructure while maintaining high availability and regulatory compliance.

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Challenge 4: Optimising User Experience While Maintaining Security

Ensuring an Intuitive Yet Compliant Signing Process

A cumbersome digital signing process can frustrate users and hinder adoption. Many mainstream signature solutions offer extensive functionality, but their complexity often leads to confusion. Indeed, most of end users don't understand the legal implication behind a simple, an advanced or a qualified electronic signature, for example, how are they supposed to decide which workflow to use for which document or process? If we multiple that be the number of jurisdictions, it become impossible for an average user to choose the right workflow, resulting in low adoption rates. Customers may become frustrated, need technical support or, even worse, to finish the process on paper. 
And in financial institutions, an incorrect signature level could lead to more serious legal and financial repercussions, such as signing a mortgage or issuing a credit card without a legally binding signature.

Additionally, mainstream solutions often lack seamless integration into the financial institution’s branding and workflow. Customers may find it unsettling to start a signing process on the bank’s portal but be redirected to an unfamiliar external interface, or to receive a document sealed with a certificate that does not belong to their bank but bears the name and brand of a different branch or even the signature solution provider.
 

How Financial Institutions Can Address This Challenge

Banks should implement a digital signature solution that streamlines workflows, guiding users seamlessly through the process while automatically applying the appropriate signature type based on document context and jurisdictional requirements - and only that, removing confusing additional options. Customised business workflows should help eliminate uncertainty by aligning signing processes with specific use cases (e.g., "W8-BEN" or "Mortgage" rather than manually selecting signature levels). Multi-tenant solutions should also allow financial institutions to segment signature workflows by department, branch, or jurisdiction to ensure proper legal compliance.

Additionally, the solution should fully integrate with the bank’s visual identity, ensuring consistency across all signing interactions. Electronic seals and document integrity protections should be tied directly to the bank and the specific branch, increasing customer trust and recognition.
 

How SwissSign Can Help

SwissSign’s On-Premise Solution offers a business-oriented interface designed specifically for financial institutions. Instead of requiring users to select between different signature levels manually, SwissSign automates the process by associating workflows with standard or customisable business use cases, ensuring compliance and ease of use.

Its multi-tenant architecture enables banks to define dedicated signing rooms where workflows are pre-configured based on jurisdictional and regulatory needs. This ensures that only legally compliant workflows are available for use, reducing administrative burden and compliance risks.

SwissSign also provides document sealing capabilities using bank-specific certificates, ensuring that all signed documents are visibly linked to the institution, enhancing both legal validity and customer trust.

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Challenge 5: Guaranteeing Legal Validity of Signed Documents

Ensuring Documents are Legally Binding

A valid (digital) signature alone does not guarantee legal enforceability. Issues such as unauthorised signatories, name confusion, and missing regulatory verifications can lead to legal challenges. Financial institutions must ensure that signed documents are legally binding and cannot be contested in court due to procedural errors.

For example, a signature may be formally valid but not legally authorised—such as when a spouse signs a document requiring the other spouse's consent or when an employee signs on behalf of a company without proper authorisation. Homonyms also pose risks when two customers share the same name, leading to incorrect document association. Similarly, financial institutions must verify the authority of signatories in corporate transactions by cross-referencing with commercial registers.

How Financial Institutions Can Address This Challenge

Banks should implement post-signature verification mechanisms that cross-check signatory identities with commercial registers and internal authorisation databases. By establishing a document validation framework, institutions can prevent compliance gaps before they escalate. Signature processes should include automated validation of identity, authority, and document integrity.

A comprehensive risk assessment should also be conducted to ensure that documents adhere to industry regulations such as ZertES and eIDAS. Using digital archiving systems with tamper-proof storage, such as Write Once Read Multiple (WORM) technology, helps prevent document manipulation and ensures regulatory compliance.
 

How SwissSign Can Help

SwissSign’s Risk Management Toolbox (RMT) provides automated analysis of signed documents, ensuring compliance with predefined legal and security rules. The solution integrates with commercial registers and internal databases to verify the authority of signatories, reducing the risk of unauthorised signatures.

Additionally, the RMT includes advanced validation features such as PDF/A compliance checks, visual comparison of original documents, signature integrity verification, and ETSI standard compliance. These capabilities help financial institutions mitigate legal risks while maintaining an efficient and compliant digital signing process.

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Conclusion: Digital Signatures as a Foundation for Financial Compliance

Digital signatures are a key pillar in financial institutions’ digital transformation. However, security, compliance, IT integration, and legal enforceability must be carefully managed to ensure a seamless and legally valid process. As standard off-the-shelve products often don't offer the flexibility and adaptability required, some institutions attempt to develop custom solutions, which may work initially but often become costly and difficult to maintain as compliance and security regulations evolve. Without continuous updates, these in-house solutions risk becoming outdated and non-compliant, leading to increased operational costs and potential legal exposure.

SwissSign’s On-Premise Solution has been designed specifically for and together with financial institutions, ensuring compliance with the highest security and regulatory standards. By integrating with FINMA-compliant Qualified Evidence workflows, it provides the necessary tools to facilitate legally valid digital signatures equivalent to handwritten signatures. 

Beyond that, our signing solution provides not just a tool but a strategic enabler for financial institutions looking to strengthen security, compliance and to drive digital transformation. Digital signatures and certificates can digitise and secure a whole range of processes, from audit reports to onboarding to sealing investment reports. 

By choosing SwissSign, financial institutions gain a trusted partner in the journey towards secure and compliant digital transformation. The digitalisation of signing processes is not merely about replacing paper—it is about building a secure and efficient foundation for the trust in financial services.