A smarter way to reduce digital agreement delays

Why digital agreements still experience delays

Electronic signatures transformed the way organizations execute agreements. But they did not eliminate operational work, compliance reviews, document exceptions, and other manual tasks that happen before the signature. 

Whether your customer is closing on a mortgage or applying for insurance, the signature itself takes seconds. 

However, the work surrounding it can take hours, days, or even weeks when:

• Identities need verifying
• Documents need to be collected and reviewed
• Errors and inconsistencies need to be fixed 
• Customers need to understand what they’re signing
• Agreements need to be moved into the next business process

Every additional step between your customers and the outcome they want to achieve creates a risk of delays, frustration, or abandonment. 

“Customer satisfaction weakens significantly after the bank’s second request for supporting materials. But despite recent efforts to streamline the process, lenders reach out to customers on average three times to request additional documents.” 

- McKinsey & Company, Growth strategies for the purchase-mortgage market, 2024

Although financial institutions and insurance companies have invested heavily in digital customer journeys, many agreement processes still depend on manual work behind the scenes. When an exception occurs, employees often need to step in to investigate the issue, contact the customer, and review updated information. Common examples include:

• A customer submits an expired ID
• Information on one document doesn't match the application
• An identity check requires intervention

Once an issue is discovered, someone must contact the customer, wait for a correction, and review the submission again.

Individually, these may seem minor. Across hundreds or thousands of agreements, however, they add significant operational work, extend completion times, and slow the path to a mortgage closing, new bank account, insurance policy, or other outcomes your customers are trying to achieve.

Is it possible to improve speed without compromising business compliance? 

If you're responsible for agreement workflows, you're probably familiar with this balancing act: Everyone wants fewer manual steps and faster completion times, but nobody wants to weaken the controls that protect customers, data, and the business.

That’s exactly what we heard in a recent survey of financial services and insurance professionals. Most respondents said their agreement processes involve too many manual steps and handoffs. Yet, when asked what they would sacrifice to gain speed, the answer was clear. 

• 22 of 30 would not give up security and identity assurance for speed 
• 20 of 30 would not give up document accuracy and integrity
• 19 of 30 would not give up compliance and audit defensibility

The real opportunity isn't choosing between efficiency and control. It is reducing manual effort while preserving business compliance and audit defensibility. 

That's the focus of our upcoming webinar, Beyond eSignature: 9 New Capabilities That Reduce Agreement Delays. In the webinar, you’ll see product innovations designed to help complete agreements faster, without security and compliance trade-offs.  

Features you will see in the OneSpan Sign webinar

IT, operations, business, and compliance leaders don't need more technology for technology's sake. They need practical ways to reduce manual effort and delays, while maintaining regulatory defensibility and protecting data.

Here’s a preview of how the upcoming webinar will help with these challenges. We’ll demo nine capabilities to help address common delays and manual tasks. Get an advance look at the first three:

1. Reduce repetitive agreement preparation. Preparing an agreement for signature often involves repetitive, manual work. Senders may need to place signature fields, dates, text inputs, and other elements into each document before it can be sent, which adds time and effort.

OneSpan Sign’s new Auto-Field Placement feature (coming soon) can place fields based on instructions embedded in the document. AI-assisted placement can also analyze documents and recommend where fields should be added. The result is less time spent on preparation and a faster path to getting agreements in front of customers.

2. Strengthen identity verification. As methods used to impersonate individuals and circumvent identity checks evolve, organizations need to continually strengthen how they establish that the person participating in a digital agreement is who they claim to be.  

Advanced biometric verification helps establish signer identity directly within the OneSpan Sign workflow by combining government-issued identity document verification with biometric comparison and certified video liveness detection. Rather than treating identity as a disconnected step, organizations can incorporate verification into the agreement journey and apply the level of verification appropriate to the workflow.

3. Catch document problems before they create delays. A customer may upload the wrong document, an expired ID, a poor-quality image, or information that conflicts with the agreement. When those issues aren't discovered until review, employees have to identify the problem, contact the customer, request a correction, wait for another submission, and review it again.

NIGO (Not in Good Order) Document Validation helps move those checks earlier in the agreement workflow by automatically reviewing supporting documents for issues with document type, completeness, quality, and required information. Customers can receive guidance when something needs attention, while employees gain greater visibility into issues before the agreement progresses. The result: fewer avoidable review cycles and less back-and-forth.

What’s next for digital agreements?

The next evolution is about tackling more of the work surrounding the signature: preparing agreements, establishing identity, identifying document problems earlier, helping people complete agreements, and ultimately moving the business process forward.

See how OneSpan Sign is addressing manual work across the digital agreement workflow. Join us for Beyond eSignature: 9 New Capabilities That Reduce Agreement Delays to see what we're building and get a closer look at all nine innovations shaping the future of OneSpan Sign.

Webinar

Beyond eSignature: 9 New Capabilities That Reduce Agreement Delays

See how new capabilities help reduce manual effort and delays across the agreement process, accelerating signing workflows while preserving security, identity assurance, and defensibility.

See all 9 innovations

FAQ

Why do digital agreements still require manual work?

Electronic signatures digitize the act of signing, but they do not automatically eliminate the work surrounding an agreement. Regulated businesses still need to prepare documents, verify identities, review supporting information, correct errors, manage exceptions, and transfer information into follow-on business processes. Automating these steps reduces manual effort, rework, and delays, and helps agreements reach completion sooner.

How can organizations reduce manual work around eSignature?

Organizations can automate repetitive preparation, integrate the identity verification step into the digital agreement workflow, validate attachments uploaded by signers earlier, and connect completed agreements with core business systems.

What is NIGO Document Validation?

NIGO Document Validation is a OneSpan Sign feature that uses AI to review supporting documents for issues involving document type, completeness, quality, and required information, so that problems can be addressed earlier. 

How does biometric verification support digital agreements?

Biometric verification can combine government-issued identity-document verification, biometric comparison, and video liveness detection within the signing workflow to help establish signer identity. 

What is Auto-Field Placement?

Auto-Field Placement is a OneSpan Sign feature that adds fields to documents to prepare them for eSignature. Auto-Field Placement uses instructions embedded in a document, while AI-assisted placement can analyze a document and recommend where fields should be added. OneSpan's approach demonstrates how organizations can begin integrating AI into human workflows by automating repetitive tasks while keeping employees in control of final decisions.

How does a digital signature work?

A digital signature uses cryptographic technology to seal an electronically signed document and make it tamper-evident. It is commonly used when organizations require assurance that a document has not been altered after signature.

What is the digital signature process?

The digital signature process typically includes document preparation, signer authentication, electronic signing, review of attachments and supporting documents, evidence capture for compliance purposes, and handoffs of completed agreements to core business systems.

What is digital contract signing?

Digital contract signing is the process of reviewing and executing a contract electronically. It can include document preparation, signer authentication, electronic signatures, completion records, and the transfer of the signed agreement into the next business process.

What is an electronic signature agreement?

An electronic signature agreement is any agreement, contract, or document that is signed using an electronic signature instead of a handwritten signature.

How do you send contracts for electronic signature?

Organizations typically send contracts for electronic signature through an eSignature platform such as OneSpan Sign. These platforms help prepare agreements, verify or authenticate signers, route documents to the right participants, collect electronic signatures, and capture the evidence needed for security, compliance, and auditability.
 

Features marked as "coming soon" represent our current product direction and may change without notice. Availability and delivery timelines are not guaranteed.​