Qualified Electronic Signature

Qualified Electronic Signature lets clients sign formal or legal documents with a qualified electronic signature (QES), which provides a high level of assurance of who signed a digital document, legally equivalent to a handwritten signature.

The signature is created using a qualified electronic certificate, which can only be issued by a QTSP once the client's identity is verified to an appropriate standard, in this case via Fourthline Identity Verification.

Our signatures comply with EU regulation No. 910/2014 (eIDAS Regulation) for electronic transactions within Europe, and with European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) standards.

Use Qualified Electronic Signature in your Identity Verification solution to offer compliant onboarding flows for specific markets, e.g. France, Portugal, and Germany.

How it works

The flow is as follows:

Initial eligibility checks

The client enters the signature flow and Fourthline performs the following initial checks to confirm the client is eligible for a signature:

Check	Description	Required
Client ID	We check if the `clientId` exists and there is a pending or successful Identity Verification case for the client.
ID document	We check if the client's ID document is still valid and that you still support that document type.

Client enters signature flow — Introduction screen

Further eligibility checks

Fourthline performs the following further eligibility checks:

Check	Description	Required
Device model	If the related Identity Verification case is less than 24 hours old, we check if the client is still using the same device model.
Geolocation	We check if the client's current geolocation is in a prohibited country.
ID document	If last checked more than 24 hours ago, we re-check if the client's ID document is still valid and that you still support the document type.
Sanctions	If last checked more than 24 hours ago, we re-check if there are any sanctions hits for the client.
Selfie	We ask for a new selfie to confirm the client is the same person as in the related Identity Verification case if the case was completed: • More than 24 hours ago, or • Less than 24 hours ago and the client is using a different device model

Client shares their geolocation — Geolocation check (optional)

Client provides a new selfie — Selfie check (if required)

More information

For the complete list of supported countries and territories, request our CDD Policy from your implementation manager.

Document approval

The client views and approves the document(s) to sign. They can view, download, and share the documents by tapping the Preview icon.

The client must also accept the QTSP legal conditions.

Note

There is no limit on the number of documents that can be signed in a single signature flow.

Client approves document(s) to sign and accepts legal agreements — Document approval

Signature confirmation

Fourthline requests a certificate from the QTSP.

The QTSP creates the certificate with the client's first and last names and ID document number, and then sends it to Fourthline. The QTSP also sends the client an SMS containing a one-time passcode, which the client enters in the signature flow to confirm signing the documents.

Client enters passcode — Signature confirmation

Document signing

Fourthline places the signature on the documents and notifies you that they are ready to download.

Next steps

Learn how to include Qualified Electronic Signature in your Identity Verification solution.
For a standalone use case, see the Integration Guide.

Get in touch

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