Poland rolls out digital signature service

Polish citizens can now sign documents digitally using mSzafir – a remote qualified e-signature service with the highest levels of security under European law, thanks to a new partnership between KIR, Poland’s national payments processor, and global e-signature specialist, Cryptomathic.

The timely availability of remote qualified e-signature services (QES) comes as the country enters lockdown and imposes stringent social distancing measures which may otherwise have prevented legal documents from being signed.

„The KIR initiative, developed in partnership with Cryptomathic, enables both individuals and companies in Poland to provide non-repudiable, legally binding digital consent in both financial and public services, elevating remote e-signatures to the same legal standing as when paper-based documents are signed manually.”, according to the press release.

The new trust service utilizes digital certificates issued by KIR’s experienced certification center. For over twenty years the company’s certificates have been used to authenticate transactions within the interbank clearing system and to ensure the security of messages exchanged between banks. KIR is a qualified trust service provider and has been issuing qualified certificates and time stamps since 2003. The new e-signature services are administered using Cryptomathic’s e-signature solution, Signer, which enables KIR to provide a consistent and centralized digital remote signing experience that users can use for signing legally binding contracts and other documentation on-line.

“Given the current conditions, we need to be taking every opportunity to create a secure, cashless and paperless world, one that appropriately supports our citizens during prolonged periods of social distancing,” comments Elzbieta Włodarczyk, Director Digital Signature Business Line, KIR. “KIR’s partnership with Cryptomathic represents a significant milestone in the digitalization of Poland’s economy and the modernization of its national payment infrastructure. We are one of the first to provide eIDAS-certified services of this kind, which puts Polish citizens right at the cutting edge of Europe’s digitized economy.”

“The Polish economy can now conduct the most secure and legally sensitive procedures both digitally and remotely,” adds Guillaume Forget, Managing Director, Cryptomathic GmbH. “This capability will have a big impact on Poland’s social and economic agility. Its businesses and individuals can move faster and more efficiently than ever before, without requiring people to meet face to face to, say, witness the signing of contracts. The shift to remote digital signatures also accelerates Poland towards a truly paperless environment, with all the environmental benefits that delivers. Cryptomathic is delighted to be playing its part in such a valuable initiative.”

KIRs remote QES services are available to the Polish population today, via a wide range of portals, mobile solutions and legacy client applications.

Cryptomathic is an industry leader in e-signature technology and assists multiple trust services providers and banks to enable their customers to sign documents and transactions at the highest assurance level. Cryptomathic Signer is the ideal e-signature solution to offer an exceptional user experience with an elegant “What You See Is What You Sign” (WYSIWYS) implementation. 

As a qualified Trust Service Provider under the eIDAS regulation, KIR’s data protection obligations are stringent. KIR’s large clients now have the option to install Cryptomathic WYSIWYS technology in their own domain, thereby ensuring their documents never leave the secure environment of the application provider.

For more details: eIDAS compliant remote e-signing – white paper