Signing electronically is as easy as paying digitally: Swisscom Sign
From today, contracts and other important documents can be signed electronically on smartphones throughout Switzerland using the My Swisscom app. The new function is called "Swisscom Sign" and is available to everyone - regardless of whether they are already a Swisscom customer or not - for private use free of charge. Swisscom is thus closing a gap in the transition from analog to digital communication and creating a further prerequisite for digital business and government processes.
Electronic signing – long overdue and now integrated directly into the «My Swisscom» app as «Swisscom Sign» for everyone in Switzerland. Everything is fully digital, from AI-supported identification to qualified electronic signatures. All you need is a smartphone with the «My Swisscom» app and a biometric passport or ID for the one-off registration.
Anyone who receives a document on paper to sign can also use «Swisscom Sign» to scan the document with the «My Swisscom» app and sign it directly. The signed document can then be shared with the contracting parties by e-mail or other communication applications. If other people need to sign, they can simply be invited to sign via «Swisscom Sign». All signed documents are automatically deleted after 30 days.
Equated to the handwritten signature
«Swisscom Sign» is based on the so-called qualified electronic signature (QES). Under Swiss law, this is equivalent to a handwritten signature. This means that documents that are valid with a handwritten signature can now be signed electronically anytime and anywhere using the My Swisscom app. Whether it’s a rental agreement, employment contract, commercial register documents or even bank documents. Only if a notary or a handwritten text is required, for example, is it still not possible to do this fully digitally.
Free of charge for private use
The electronic signature is free of charge for use for private purposes such as electronic administrative procedures intended for this purpose, in connection with schools, kindergartens or non-profit association activities. So if you receive a document for signing without a prepaid reply envelope, you can even save the postage for returning it with «Swisscom Sign». For commercial use, a signature costs CHF 2.40. In the coming months, «Swisscom Sign» will offer companies a range of services for the digitalization and simple management of signature processes.
Switzerland is lagging behind internationally when it comes to the digitalization of business and government processes. A simple and widely accepted qualified electronic signature is an important prerequisite for a successful transition from analog to digital communication. With «Swisscom Sign», Swisscom is closing this analog gap in everyday processes. Administrative processes are much simpler, faster and more secure. This is because an electronic signature not only relieves the burden on complex business processes and saves resources in terms of transportation and paper, but also protects the signed document against manipulation and is therefore the trustworthy alternative to a handwritten signature.
By the way: an electronically signed document can be uploaded to validator.ch (federal website) and checked free of charge to see whether the qualified electronic signature is valid under Swiss law.