Legally bound: E-signing on the dotted line with Attores
Did you know that digitally signed documents are legally recognised by the law in Singapore as well as most other localities around the world?
Since 2010, e-signatures are legally binding under the Electronic Transactions Act here in Singapore. The practice of requesting for signatures online is not something that is new. Most PDF readers have the feature built-in for you to easily sign documents.
But the underlying issue here is the security. How do we know if the document is the original one? How do we know when it was signed and by whom?
That is where service providers like Attores come in with a blockchain tied to their platform. David Moskowitz, CEO and co-founder of Attores and Gaurang Torvekar, CTO and co-founder started Attores with a simple idea.
They wanted to simplify the creation, deployment and execution of smart contracts on their blockchain-agnostic platform.
The Attores story
Source: The FinLab
“We enable document and data sharing securely using blockchains and smart contracts,” says David.
“We have a two-pronged strategy. First one is for financial institutions (FIs), where we allow the institutions to share information securely with one another.
For example, in trade finance, insurance companies can issue its policies for, say, marine cargo onto a blockchain.
The second part is the consumer or alternative segment. We demonstrated the platform to investors and users and they liked the digital signing part. So we spun that technology off into a prosumer (media-friendly) version,” he adds.
Now you can digitally sign your documents, have them registered in the blockchain as smart contracts and an auto-trail of all transactional activities is created for each document.
Their main target audience now is SMEs in the finance and education industries as well as sectors that require licensing.
“When we launched the digital signing platform, we got 150 signups and 3 SMEs within 3 weeks. We also have plugins available so it can be directly integrated into the customer’s website,” Gaurang explains.
“Our system is modular. We can build templates according to what (clients) want and the turnaround time is quite quick. This also allows us to manage several projects at any given time,” he adds.
Addressing the security problem
Source: Attores
Smart contracts in the blockchain enable full and transparent audit trails, creating proof of issuance (or “provenance”) and workflow, explains David. “There is this extra security mechanism when it is in a blockchain.
You can see the audit history of the document. When you have to rely on a single company like a bank or legal firm, there is a trust factor there. But with blockchain, the trust barrier is removed,” says David.
“With the blockchain technology, you can see the timestamps to everything that is made to the document in question. We just make all these accessible to you in a manner that is simple and intuitive,” he adds.
Gaurang adds that this is also a better and more cost-effective alternative to other digital signature platforms. “We also cover an extensive range of documents like diplomas, certifications, licensing,” Gaurang says.
When they first started, they were doing things like swaps and derivative contracts using smart contracts. “After discussions with executives and venture capitalists, we looked at a bigger market of data, document security and sharing,” David shares.
Whoever the issuer (of the document) is, the process is the same and cannot be done in a transparent manner without blockchain in place.
Helping hand from The FinLab
Image by ZUU online Singapore
The idea to pivot the company from doing smart contracts to a wider range of products actually came after they had been accepted into The FinLab’s accelerator programme.
“When we came into The FinLab, we actually had a different offering in mind. But after being exposed to the programme, we were able to pivot while still using the same technology,” David says.
On top of that, the duo reveals that The FinLab has also helped them in understanding how to pitch to investors and also introducing them to investors through the Infocomm Investments Pte Ltd (IIPL).
“IIPL has a great network of VCs and investors. And on the other side of it, UOB has been excellent in introducing us to various mentors from the bank,” David adds.
“With our direct contact to executives in UOB, we have also been able to gain more credibility in the market. The FinLab is also dedicated to pushing us to our limits to achieve more and get things going,” he says.
“They introduce us to new contacts but also ensure that there is follow up beyond the first point of contact.”
Moving forward
Right now, Attores is discussions with UOB for a Proof of Concept (POC). “We have a second POC in discussion with another bank as well as an insurance company, both in relation to trade finance,” David says.
Hoping to scale to reach a wider network of clients, Attores is also looking for more partners to join them as well as for seed funding. “Since we are a relatively new technology, there is a lot of education involved and we have to explain the underlying security mechanism to many people,” says David.
The duo is looking to continue educating more of the public on the blockchain technology and agree that they are happy to share what they know at any time convenient to all. They actively update the Attores blog on what they are up to so you can follow them there.
For more information, please visit https://attores.com/.
(By Sarah Voon)
Related Articles
- 5 expert tips to be the best fintech startup in Asia
- Major UK law firm: free consultations for fintech start-ups
- Holding an online event to look for cross-border Fintech talent
