The range of banking services available over the Internet has increased steadily over recent years, but until now when bank customers needed to sign documents or contracts they still had to rely on the post or visit their bank in person. Electronic signing allows the entire contractual process from application to signature to be carried out through the internet bank.

 

"At the moment many people only use their BankID electronic identity to log in to internet banking, but BankID offers much greater potential than this. This is why we have now made it possible for Internet banking customers to use BankID to sign documents electronically. This will initially apply to buying insurance products from Frende, the insurance company established through collaboration between Sparebanken Vest and 14 other savings banks", explains Jan Erik Kjerpeseth, Deputy Managing Director of Sparebanken Vest. The bank is also looking at additional areas where electronic signing can be used with the help of BankID and EDB's electronic signature solution. Electronic signing using the new solution will be made available to all Sparebanken Vest customers over time. "We are looking into which areas are best suited for electronic signing so that we can give our customers the opportunity to use banking services in an efficient way. This is just the first step", adds Jan Erik Kjerpeseth.

 

"A process which used to take days or even weeks because of the post and manual handling of documents, can now be carried out in just a few minutes through Internet banking", explains Geir Espeland, director, payment and security products at EDB. Distributing and signing physical documents incurs high costs, both for banks and other businesses. Using electronic signing offers a big increase in efficiency and cost savings. "This means that our electronic signature solution will deliver benefits for both customers and suppliers, and we expect to see a continuing increase in the number of areas where it is used", says Geir Espeland.

 

More about electronic signing
Electronic signing refers to one or more parties to the contract signing a document by electronic means. It allows banks and other businesses to avoid distributing paper documents, and the customer can instead sign the document through an internet banking service or some other form of secure portal. EDB offers a solution for electronic signing using a recognized electronic identity such as BankID.

 

 

Liv Næss, information adviser, Sparebanken Vest +47 482 59 695

Geir Espeland, director, payment and security, EDB +47 906 23 007
Asbjørn Hønsvall, information manager, EDB +47 915 86 868

 

Sparebanken Vest
Sparebanken Vest is the third largest savings bank in Norway, with total assets of NOK 95 billion. The bank's principal market is the area represented by Hordaland, Rogaland and Sogn og Fjordane, and the bank's head office is in Bergen. The bank has 250,000 customers, 59 sales offices and 841 employees. Sparebanken Vest owns Eiendomsmegler Vest AS and AS Filialbygg. Together with 14 other savings banks, Sparebanken Vest was responsible for establishing Frende Skadeforsikring, Frende Livsforsikring and Norne Securities.

 

EDB
EDB Business Partner is a leading Nordic stock exchange listed IT company. The EDB group has more than 6,000 employees, with annual turnover of NOK 8 billion. EDB delivers solutions that cover the entire range of business critical IT services from application services and industry-specific solutions through to IT operating services and network solutions. EDB is committed to being a close and responsive IT partner that helps its customers operate more efficiently and achieve their business objectives. EDB Business Partner is listed on the Oslo stock exchange with the ticker code: EDBASA. See www.edb.com for more information.