Latest news with #e-signature
Globe and Mail
4 days ago
- Business
- Globe and Mail
SignWell Completes Fourth Consecutive SOC 2 Type II Certification
PORTLAND, Ore., Aug. 12, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SignWell, the e-signature platform trusted by over 65,000 businesses, has completed its fourth consecutive SOC 2 Type II audit—reinforcing its commitment to enterprise-grade security, privacy, and system reliability. While many providers either skip certification or stop at SOC 2 Type I, SignWell's achievement reflects ongoing operational excellence and dedication to protecting customer data. 'Achieving a single SOC 2 Type II is already a milestone,' said Sam Wehbe, CEO of SignWell. 'Earning our fourth shows that security and compliance are part of how we operate. We don't upsell these features—they're included for every customer, by default.' Rising Expectations for Digital Trust As industries tighten data security requirements, certifications like SOC 2 Type II have become essential—especially in finance, legal, and healthcare. Unlike Type I, Type II audits assess how well controls are implemented and maintained over time. 'SOC 2 Type II shows that a company doesn't just have good intentions—it follows through,' said Caroline Wong, Cybersecurity Expert. 'SignWell's fourth consecutive certification is a clear sign that they take consistency and accountability seriously.' The certification provides businesses with continued confidence in SignWell's ability to meet regulatory requirements while simplifying document workflows—from employee onboarding to contracts and procurement—without compromising on security or affordability. About SignWell SignWell is an electronic signature and workflow management platform used by tens of thousands of businesses worldwide. With legally binding signatures, industry-leading SOC 2 Type II compliance, and best-in-class customer support included for all users, SignWell removes bottlenecks from everyday document workflows — all while helping organizations reduce costs and risk. Learn more at Media Contact
Forbes
02-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How Open-Source AI E-Signature Solutions Are Changing Fraud Prevention
Pratik Badri is VP of Data & Analytics and a technology expert focusing on AI and machine learning at JPMorgan Chase & Co. The Covid-19 pandemic pushed institutions to quickly switch to digital methods for things like onboarding customers, approving loans and signing contracts—tasks that usually happened face-to-face. While services like DocuSign and Adobe Sign saw a major uptick in use, new open-source AI e-signature solutions started popping up. These tools used cloud data and machine learning to boost security and efficiency. For many institutions, these technologies turned out to be essential for fighting fraud, meeting regulations and keeping operations steady. I've spent a lot of time exploring open-source AI-powered e-signature tools, testing their capabilities and seeing how they stack up against commercial options. From document parsing and smart contract analysis to signature verification with machine learning, I've worked with various frameworks to understand their strengths and limitations. Some solutions are great for basic signing workflows, while others integrate AI for advanced features like fraud detection or automated contract reviews. Based on this experience, I'll take you through how open-source AI e-signatures are reshaping document signing now and how they've become a staple in the real world. The Digital Document Challenge During The Pandemic Before 2020, many companies wanted actual signatures for important documents like mortgages and investment contracts. But with lockdowns in place, institutions faced three big issues: 1. Operational Disruption: Organizations had to completely reinvent their document processing systems while branches remained closed and employees worked remotely. 2. A Rise In Fraud: The pandemic created the perfect storm for a rise in identity theft and forged signatures, as more people moved their personal and professional lives online. 3. Regulatory Pressure: Financial institutions, in particular, had to make sure digital signatures met legal standards while staying auditable. How Open-Source AI E-Signatures Helped Tackle These Problems During the pandemic, the shortcomings of traditional document systems became impossible to ignore. Institutions needed tools that were not only digital but intelligent—able to detect fraud, verify identity remotely and scale securely across cloud and hybrid infrastructures. Below, I explore how open-source AI-powered e-signature solutions rose to meet that challenge. Traditional PDF-based signatures were no longer enough to detect sophisticated forms of digital forgery. Open-source e-signature platforms began integrating machine learning models specifically trained to recognize fraud patterns. These models could identify subtle anomalies in how documents were signed or submitted, using behavioral biometrics to flag unusual interactions such as inconsistent typing speed or erratic cursor movements. Additionally, computer vision models were deployed to spot deepfake signatures and manipulated identity documents. Risk scoring engines further enhanced fraud detection by comparing signer behavior and metadata against known threat intelligence. Open-source AI e-signature platforms also partnered with leading cloud identity verification providers to make document signing more secure and compliant. Instead of relying solely on manual ID checks or scanned documents, these platforms enabled real-time identity verification using AI algorithms. Users could now verify documents and personal information through automated processes that compared IDs against government databases, facial recognition tools and biometric scans. Multifactor authentication (MFA), including biometric logins, further ensured that only verified users could complete or approve transactions. This advancement dramatically improved both security and user experience, particularly for remote onboarding. Many organizations faced a dilemma: They needed the scalability of cloud solutions but couldn't compromise on data privacy and control. Open-source e-signature tools offered the flexibility to create self-hosted deployments, allowing businesses to maintain full control over sensitive information. Companies could implement private cloud environments with rigorous access controls while still leveraging AI features for document analysis and verification. Hybrid models—where sensitive tasks ran on-premises and non-sensitive functions ran in the cloud—became common. In some cases, immutable audit logs powered by blockchain technology were integrated, ensuring the long-term security and traceability of every document interaction. Keeping up with evolving financial and privacy regulations became another challenge for institutions during the pandemic. To help, some open-source AI e-signature platforms began incorporating smart contract technology. These AI-driven smart contracts automatically enforced compliance rules embedded into workflows, such as validating signer eligibility, capturing timestamps or managing document expiration. They also generated detailed audit trails in regulator-approved formats, making compliance reporting faster and more accurate. Furthermore, document retention policies could be automated to meet jurisdictional requirements, reducing administrative overhead and risk of noncompliance. Post-Pandemic: The New Normal For E-Signatures Even as in-person services resume, most institutions aren't returning to paper-based processes. AI-powered e-signature platforms have demonstrated lasting value beyond the pandemic. For example, digital mortgage applications that once required several days can now be processed much faster thanks to real-time identity verification and automated workflows. Fraud losses have declined as machine learning models continue to evolve, detecting anomalies more accurately while minimizing false positives. I've found that open-source platforms also eliminate costly licensing fees, making them an appealing option for banks, fintech companies and government agencies. What began as a crisis-driven solution is now shaping the future of secure, efficient digital document management. Conclusion For institutions, the right e-signature setup needs to focus on security, compliance and real-time fraud detection. Open-source options combined with cloud AI give more control and transparency than traditional platforms, usually making them the best choice for financial workflows. 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TechCrunch
06-05-2025
- Business
- TechCrunch
Agree.com raises $7.2M to take on Docusign, Bill.com with AI
says its AI-powered e-signature platform is different from competitors because it includes invoicing and payment processing. That's why the company might have a shot at tackling the industry goliath, Docusign. Because the startup makes its money from transaction fees for any money movement facilitated by its platform, has made e-signatures free to all users. And now it's raised a $7.2 million seed round, the company tells TechCrunch exclusively. Founded in February 2024, Agree also raised $3 million in a pre-seed round of funding last year led by Sheel Mohnot, general partner at Better Tomorrow Ventures. This latest financing was oversubscribed and led by Tyler Hogge at Pelion Venture Partners, according to co-founder CEO Marty Ringlein. Funding for the raise only took two weeks, according to a source familiar with the transaction. uses AI on top of optimal character recognition (OCR) software so that it can auto-detect and label all of a contract's input fields and signature blocks. Its technology can also identify and extract 'any and all' payment terms to dynamically generate invoices. 'At the end of almost every signature, someone has to pay someone money,' Ringlein told TechCrunch. 'We combine what has historically been a disjointed and fragmented workflow to make signing better and payments faster.' Because of its multitasking approach, Ringlein believes that can potentially replace traditional e-signature software and invoicing and accounts receivable tools such as Techcrunch event Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Exhibit at TechCrunch Sessions: AI Secure your spot at TC Sessions: AI and show 1,200+ decision-makers what you've built — without the big spend. Available through May 9 or while tables last. Berkeley, CA | BOOK NOW 'Agree extracts every character, indentation, semi-colon, and hyphen to not only understand the type of contract being signed, but make it fully editable and collaborative with commenting, redlining, and version control,' Ringlein told TechCrunch. Although it primarily competes with Docusign, Agree's business model is a fintech company through B2B payments. So far, its trajectory seems promising. In its first three months, after launching in early September 2024, it hit 10,000 users. Seven weeks later, it doubled to over 20,000 users. Today, it has over 25,000 users, including ad networks such as Beehiv and Product Hunt, B2B SaaS startups such as Rho and TaxGPT, and enterprise sales teams like Brico and Thoropass, it says. Agree offers a premium offering for larger teams that charges a traditional monthly SaaS fee per seat. It also will monetize invoicing and billing logic on transaction volume. Presently, Agree has seven employees, including co-founders Will Hubbard (COO) and Evan Dudla (CTO). All of the founders have launched and sold multiple previous startups. Ringlein, for instance, previously sold design agency nclud to Twitter in May, 2012, for an undisclosed amount. In 2016, Ringlein, Dudla and Agree's CPO Michael Dick sold a startup called nvite to Eventbrite. In 2020, that trio also sold Gather to Brex Hubbard started his first company, air quality monitory startup ChemiSense, as a junior at UC Berkeley. He ran it for about six years and sold it to Kaiterra in 2019. Hubbard then started his next company, Niche (verticalized community marketplaces), shortly thereafter, and it was acquired by Opera Event in 2020. More recently, Hubbard and Ringlein also started early-stage venture firm Adventure Fund, which has invested in the likes of Mercury and beehiiv. As for the growth plan for Agree, Pelion Partner Tyler Hogge told TechCrunch that 'the smartest way to get massive adoption would be to use e-signature as the wedge, give it away for free, and make it impossible for incumbents to reply.' Hogge added that Agree's 'business model is truly unique: free software, monetized through invoicing and payments.' Blank Ventures also participated in the seed round, along with angel investor Gokul Rajaram. All existing backers, including Better Tomorrow Ventures, 8-Bit Capital, Sophia Amoruso's Trust Fund, Hustle Fund, Everywhere Ventures, Singh Capital Partners and Firsthand VC doubled down on their investment. While the company primarily operates in the United States today, it intends to expand internationally later this year, starting with the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.
