Digital Signature Market Size, Share & COVID-19 Impact Analysis, By Deployment (Cloud, and On-Premises), By Organization Size (Large Enterprises and Small & Medium Enterprises), By End User (BFSI, IT and Telecommunications, Government, Healthcare & Life Science, Education, Retail, Real Estate, and Others), and Regional Forecast, 2022-2029

The global digital signature market size was USD 3.00 billion in 2021 and is projected to grow from USD 4.05 billion in 2022 to USD 35.03 billion in 2029, at a CAGR of 36.1% during the 2022-2029 period. Based on our analysis, the global market had exhibited a higher growth of 34.4% in 2020 as compared to 2019. The global impact of COVID-19 has been unprecedented and staggering, with digital signature solutions experiencing a higher-than-anticipated impact on demand across all regions amid the pandemic.

Digital type of signature offers secured and verified transactions to support the growing digitized businesses. The market is projected to be driven by increased demand for e-business and paperless workflow. It is assisting businesses such as retail, BFSI, healthcare, government, IT, and telecommunications, among others, in lowering operational expenses. Its deployment offers a competitive edge to businesses across industries. Similarly, increased government backing is likely to stimulate the digital signature market growth. For instance, until December 2020, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), India's market regulator, permitted publicly traded corporations to employ electronic signature certifications for filings to stock exchanges under specified disclosure rules.

COVID-19 IMPACT

Social Distancing Norms to Accelerate Use of Electronic Signature Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the adoption of digital signatures and verification. The growing number of online and remote work commitments is driving industries to use digital technologies in order to stay in business. Governments across the world are adopting and encouraging digital signatures to limit paper-based transactions and maintain social distance norms.

The government of India is focusing on maximising the use of the digital platform. The government supports digital means of signing and verification such as electronic signatures, smart ID/card readers, smooth pass, biometric signatures, and others. In addition, the Indian government is providing a one-time password after completing digital KYC for the short-term electronic signature requirement. 

Pandemic crises have pushed industries all around the world to migrate to digital platforms. BFSI is one of the prominent sectors that has seen the quick adoption of digital platforms to deal with the changing environment. However, identity verification has proven to be a significant difficulty for banks. The electronic signature ensures that communication between both parties is validated, reducing the possibility of fraudulent transactions or conversations. Similarly, during the pandemic, the retail and healthcare industries are gaining traction in utilising the technology. As a result, the market is likely to boost rapidly following the pandemic.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a disruptive and unprecedented impact on global economies as a result, manufacturing, and industrial hubs, witnessed disruption in the supply chain and halted their production activities. The disruptions in the manufacturing and supply chain have been observed to impede the supply of E-signature hardware such as hardware security modules (HSM) smart cards, and among others.

LATEST TRENDS

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Blockchain Technology in Digital Signature to be a Prominent Market Trend

The increasing digitalization among several industry workflow systems is likely to revolutionise businesses. The rising acceptance of dematerialization by most companies is one of the key factors driving the growth of the market. Paperless solutions provide numerous advantages, including convenience, speed, and superior workflow efficiency. Electronic documents help the organizations in reducing the expenses of the stationary. Similarly, it reduces the risk of misplacing an important document and keeps it secure for a long duration. The growing popularity of the paperless system has created the demand for electronic authorization.

Further, the use of digital signatures in blockchain assures that the message/information that started from the source and has traveled all the way to the destination is secure, and any concerns about hacking may be eliminated. According to October 2021 eMudhra report on a blockchain, all transactions are digitally signed to assure transaction integrity and data non-tamperability. As blockchain systems gain traction, identity-backed digital signatures are anticipated to become a vital component in maintaining the traceability of participants to transactions such as Smart Contracts performed on the blockchain.

DRIVING FACTORS

Need for Improved Security, Operational Efficiency and Seamless Workflow to Propel Market Growth

Previously, managing, storing and tracking documents used to take a long time, which further delayed other work processes. Besides, the need for improved operational efficiency and concern regarding data security has led to the emergence of digital signatures. For sectors like banking and insurance, retail, real estate, and government, the security of digital information transferred among individuals or departments is of utmost importance. Therefore, these large transactions driven businesses have begun incorporating digitally-enabled signatures in their work process to meet their need for secured online transactions. This technology is considered ideal for highly regulated industries as it can prove the integrity and authenticity of the document. It also assists companies in saving time, space and money while improving business productivity. Similarly, the need for authentication and multi-level security across organizations encourages them to opt for digitally enabled signatures.

Additionally, various countries in the European Union, Asia, and the Americas are using digital signatures on legal documents to improve the security and efficiency of digital documents. Businesses using this technology are able to achieve increased transparency, robust efficiencies, enhanced document integrity, security against fraud, and cost savings. It is helping businesses to cut down document handling costs by at least 80%.

Further, it serves as a guarantor of integrity and non-repudiation of data. With the growing number of e-businesses and adoption of digital technologies by traditional businesses is generating huge demand for these signatures. This has encouraged several software companies like Network Associates and Entrust Technologies to develop software that enables users to employ digital signatures in digital documents. Such growing use cases of the technology increase the shift of conventional business towards e-business, thereby boosting the market's growth.

Rising Preference Towards Digitalization by BFSI Companies to Boost Market Growth

The adoption of digitalization and automation has made BFSI companies witness remarkable changes in their processes. It has provided huge transparency and efficiency in the payment processes. Processes such as sanctioning loan investments, among others that required the client’s physical presence for the signature.

Digitalization has made it possible to conduct various tasks, including the account opening process, online bill payments, and more, without being physically present. This has led to the increasing demand for digital signatures in the BFSI industry. The technology offers an easy and fast documentation process by allowing real-time signing features. Further, it helps in reducing fraud cases such as signatures forging, document misplacement, paper being stolen, and more. Thus, the rapid digitalization in the financial sector is driving the market growth.

RESTRAINING FACTORS

Lack of Awareness Regarding Legality and Benefits of Digital Signature to Hinder Market Growth

The demand for digitalization is rapidly growing across industries. However, in some developing economies, the adoption of electronic signatures is lower as compared to developed nations. This is mainly due to a lack of awareness regarding the benefits associated with these signatures. Also, misconception and lack of knowledge regarding its legality are some of the factors impeding its adoption. Companies are hesitant to utilize the technology owing to the various rules and regulations associated with it. Also, growing security concerns associated with data and the rising number of cyberattacks are expected to limit the digital execution of business processes. These factors are likely to hinder the growth of the market.

SEGMENTATION

By Deployment Analysis

Growing Developments in Cloud Technology to Boost Cloud-based Digital Signature Demand

Based on the deployment, the market is categorized as on-premises and cloud. The cloud is expected to gain maximum market share during the forecast period. However, the on-premises is also expected to hold a significant digital signature market share owing to the increasing concerns about cloud security has been one of the reasons for preferring on-premises deployment. However, with technological development and security advancement, the demand for cloud-based solutions is gaining traction. Further, to form new standards for cloud-based electronic signatures in-line with business and government regulations, business providers have created an international group of Cloud Signature Consortium.

By Organization Size Analysis

Increasing E-Business Trend to Boost the Large Enterprises Market Share

Based on Organization Size, the market is segmented into large enterprises and small & medium enterprises. Small and medium enterprises are expected to show the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The growing acceptance for digitalization to improve efficiency in the business process is one of the major factors for the growth of the SME segment. Large enterprises are expected to dominate the market during the forecast period. The growing implementation of e-business and the paperless system is fueling the adoption of these solutions among large enterprises. Besides, an increasing IT budget also boosts the implementation of advanced digitalized solutions across large enterprises.

By End User Analysis

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BFSI to Show Rapid Growth Owing to Increasing Demand for Better Customer Services

Based on end user, the market is segmented into BFSI, IT and telecommunications, government, healthcare & life science, education, retail, real estate, and others. The BFSI segment is expected to show exponential growth owing to the rapid shift toward the digital platform to provide streamlined services to their clients. This has helped in boosting the sales of the industry.

Similarly, healthcare is expected to show significant growth owing to the rising adoption of digital systems for medical documentation and payment invoices. In addition, the adoption of electronic signatures in the retail industry is improving customer and employee satisfaction. The growing trend of e-governance across the countries is likely to drive market growth during the forecast period.

REGIONAL INSIGHTS

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North America is expected to dominate the with largest share during the forecast period. The region is the early adopter of digital technologies and thus, boosting the market growth. Since Electronic signatures are lawful in every state and U.S. territory where federal law applies, according to the United States Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce (ESIGN) Act of 2000. Further, where federal law does not apply, the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act (UETA) has been approved by the majority of U.S. states.

Asia Pacific is expected to grow significantly owing to the increasing government initiatives to improve digitalization across industries. The government of India is focusing on providing e-signature facilities and has passed a law under IT 2000 for legalizing the e-signature. In China, the government has proposed E-Signature Law and is highly promoting digitized signatures for documentation. This is likely to drive market growth in the Asia Pacific region.

Europe is expected to gain rapid growth during the forecast period owing to increasing E-business systems across the industries. New regulations such as eIDAS, a regulation on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions formed by the European Union are implementing precise requirements for securely signed documents. This is expected to influence the entire market across the region. The cloud signature consortium aims to make it easy for European governments and businesses to effectively comply with the eIDAS solution.

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The Middle East and Africa are steadily growing during the forecast period. GCC is expected to gain traction owing to the increasing investment in the region. For instance, Adobe, Inc. has collaborated with the federal telecommunications regulatory agency of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) to provide electronic and digital signature technology. Similarly, Latin America is also likely to show significant growth during the forecast period.

KEY INDUSTRY PLAYERS

Growing Strategic Collaborations Among Companies to Expand the Product Portfolio

The key market players of the market, such as OneSpan Inc., Thales Group, Ascertia, DocuSign Inc., Adobe Inc., and more, are focusing on providing efficient signing solutions. The companies are collaborating to extend their presence. They are entering into strategic partnerships to provide advanced cloud-based solutions. The companies are also investing in offering a mobile-based app for digital signing solutions. In addition, the digital signature creator also offers free service for some of the documents.

March 2021: OneSpan, Inc. partnered with the Belgium mobile ID (itsme) to implement Qualified E-Signatures by issuing certificate-based digital IDs that validate the identity signers (QES).  This partnership enables clients the flexibility to operate with even more TSPs while maintaining the highest standards of signer authentication compliance and assurance.

January 2020: IFS, provider of automation solutions for wealth management, partnered with SIGNiX Inc. to simplify the digital signature process. This partnership enables the wealth management industry with the best levels of security, usability, efficiency, and overall digital enablement.

List of the Key Companies Profiled:

• Adobe, Inc. (California, U.S.)


• OneSpan, Inc. (Illinois, U.S.)


• DocuSign, Inc. (California, U.S.)


• Thales Group (Paris, France)


• ASSA ABLOY (Stockholm, Sweden)


• GlobalSign, Inc. (Leuven, Belgium)


• Entrust Corporation (Minnesota, U.S.)


• Ascertia Limited (Guildford, Surrey)


• SIGNiX, Inc. (Tennessee, U.S.)


• IDEMIA (Courbevoie, France)

KEY INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS:

• August 2020 – DocuSign, Inc. announced a strategic partnership with GMO GlobalSign to provide a seamless digital signature solution. The DocuSign Inc. platform will integrate the cloud-based Document Signing Service (DSS) of GMO GlobalSign.


• March 2020 – SIGNiX announced that their solution had been integrated with RamQuest, Inc.'s Closing Market digital network, which provides technology-based solutions for the title insurance and settlement market. The Closing Market digital network from RamQuest is an application-to-application interface that easily connects many systems while allowing each user to operate from their own software. SIGNiX is an online document signing service that is safe and secure. The integration aims to help mutual consumers move one step closer to a totally electronic closing.

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The digital signature market research report highlights leading regions across the world to offer a better understanding of the user. Furthermore, the report provides insights into the latest industry trends and analyzes technologies that are being deployed at a rapid pace at the global level. It further highlights some of the growth-stimulating factors and restraints, helping the reader to gain in-depth knowledge about the market.

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