Turn ink-signed documents into Digital Original® assets with Paper In®

As the pandemic has made clear, paper contracts have massive drawbacks, including overhead time costs, and the amount of physical space needed for document storage and paper management.

Paper processes are also harder and more time intensive to scale and can create speedbumps in managing risk and compliance. The need for remote and contactless workflows has created demand for digital contracting and asset management, with its streamlined operations and cost savings.

As paper processes are replaced, lenders who have taken the leap toward a fully digital process benefit from faster contract execution and deal closing, accelerated funding cycles, and increased transparency in the funding process.

However, electronic signing isn’t always an option and leads to a hybrid approach, which typically happens when lenders have started their transition to digital and are still supporting some volume of paper documents

This poses a challenge: contracts being managed with separate processes can create potential compliance issues, and it’s harder to scale while still working with paper instruments. Secondary market liquidity is also affected when a portfolio is split between paper and digital contracts.

Designed to ease the way toward a fully digital process, the eOriginal patented Paper In® process supports operational flexibility through the conversion of paper and wet-ink signatures into Digital Original® assets. This affords all the benefits of digital in a hybrid environment, where even paper assets are secured, encrypted, and tamper-sealed, allowing for easy management and transfers with the highest levels of compliance.

Understanding the Paper In® Process

Deposit

The Paper In process begins with an ink-signed document, where a borrower puts pen to paper to execute a contract. The paper source file is then scanned to produce an electronic file. The file is then uploaded as a Paper In request within the eCore® secure repository in the eOriginal digital lending solution. This step secures the electronic copy and locks it until the request is completed.

Destroy

The source file, in addition to any other paper or electronic copies of the file, must be destroyed or permanently marked, to ensure the Digital Original in the eCore secure repository is the unique, original document. It’s important to be able to prove, via documented and enforced policies or other artifacts, that the source file has been destroyed, and that the business recognizes the Digital Original document as the sole original document.

Sign

The end user digitally signs the deposited document, attesting to the successful destruction of the paper original and its unmarked copies. This results in a visible electronic signature being added to the document, notating the person or system performing the Paper In process, as well as the date and time of the conversion.

Seal

The system then completes the process by digitally sealing the deposited document using Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) technology and an X509 digital certificate, binding the content and signatures of the document with a tamper-evident digital signature.

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Paper In provides numerous operational and compliance benefits for hybrid lending operations.