How to use DocuSign
How do I sign NextGear Capital documentation using DocuSign?
Download our 'How to Guide' here or visit the DocuSign website for more information.
Why are NextGear Capital using electronic signatures?
At NextGear Capital we want to make interacting with us as quick and easy as possible. We have invested in DocuSign which is an electronic signature software to allow our dealers to sign contracts with maximum flexibility. DocuSign provides a faster and more convenient way of signing contracts as you can do so from any device, anywhere at any time.
To complete an electronic signature it is a simple process, click the link in the email, read the documents and once you’re ready to sign just follow and click the DocuSign tabs and you’re finished! The paperless approach is to enable you to have more time to stock more and sell more.
Are electronic signatures widely used?
Yes. Many organisations including governments, large corporations, small businesses and charities routinely use electronic signatures all the time nowadays. If you’ve ever downloaded an app or update to your smartphone or ordered goods and services or donated to charity online, you will have agreed to the providers terms & conditions on-screen by electronic signature with no pen or paper in sight!
How can you prove who actually signed with DocuSign?
The electronic signature is linked to the unique device used to sign and the signer to their unique email address to which the document was sent. A record of this together with a time stamp of when the document was opened and signed by that person is kept, and courts accept this as evidence that that person was the one who signed.
Are electronic signatures legally binding?
Yes. Both US and European law have long recognised that electronic signatures are admissible in legal proceedings to determine the authenticity of any electronic communication in which they are incorporated. Although a signature is commonly regarded as the writing by hand of one's full name or initials and surname to confirm one's willingness to be legally bound by a set of agreed terms, the courts have recognised that the essential characteristic of a signature is not what it looks like but the purpose it serves. That is, a signature must demonstrate a signatory's authenticating intention (that the signatory intended to be bound by the terms of the document). A person putting their thumb print on a document could be valid as a signature as it would be evidence that the person intended to be bound by that document.
What is the difference between an electronic signature and a ‘wet ink’ signature?
Electronic signatures can take many forms (see What is an electronic signature?).
A ‘wet ink’ signature is where the parties to the document write (sign) their names with their own hands upon a paper document by ink pen. Although some specific types of legal documents do still have to be signed by the traditional ‘wet ink’ method, most documents including commercial contracts can be signed by electronic signature. If a traditional wet ink signature on a piece of paper is scanned in to an electronic device, the scanned version is an electronic signature.
What is an electronic signature?
Electronic signatures can take many forms. Examples include typing your name into an electronic document, such as an email; a scanned paper signature; signing your usual signature on a screen or digital pad (e.g. signing for a delivery on a courier’s handheld PDA), clicking a ‘button’ on a website to confirm an order.
All these methods of electronic signature are capable of showing legally that the signatory had the necessary authenticating intention that the party signing the document intended to be bound by the its terms.