Business is changing, even more rapidly in the current climate than it was before. Billions of dollars in funds get pushed towards the digitization of every industry, big or small. Mobile providers and Internet Service Providers have affected the technology market in a way that makes tech the new norm. Our work, our home life, our free time, and even dating have all been affected by this change.
Why are digital solutions so popular? Because of three distinct services that put them above traditional methods.
Providing Information
Think of your favorite newspaper site, Wikipedia, or any museum website. A vast amount of info exists at your fingerprints.
Buying, Selling, and Trading
Transactions rely on data, which means online shopping was pretty much an inevitability. Paypal, online banking, Amazon, and countless other financial and retail providers online show how goods, services, and cash flow easily online.
Control and Management
The Internet of Things (IoT) means that things can be controlled remotely through existing networks. Think about smart energy meters or apps to control the lights in your home.
One increasingly popular solution that is quickly improving business across a vast selection of industries is e-signature. Dealing with all your necessary contracts and documentation online means no longer having to deal with loads and loads of paper and also providing an electronic signature in word. Here are five top industries that benefit from electronic signature software.
#1: Real Estate
Financial technologies (FinTech), including crowdfunding, debt platforms, online exchange, and online payments, have already begun to revolutionize the real estate market. After all, work that would have once taken hours is now doable at the click of a button!
Since the Second World War, the amount of paperwork involved in real estate has only increased thanks to government policies and intervention. In 1950, paperwork cost around $1.2 billion, but 25 years later, in 1975, it had jumped to $30 billion. As you can imagine, it’s only been rising since! An average middle-sized agency spends 22% more than the same sized firm 30 years ago, and this looks likely to increase by over 12% per year.
E-signatures slash this figure entirely, removing the need to store, print, duplicate, ship, or photocopy documents.
#2: Financial Institutions
It’s perhaps no surprise that FinTech should apply to financial operations! E-signatures are extremely popular, particularly in personal finance and wealth management. They allow customers to handle their accounts, credit scores, bills, and other financial investments with ease and on the go, creating convenience both for the bank and for the client.
Other areas of the industry could benefit easily, making swifter money transfer options, hedge funds, mutual trade, and even helping build and create critical financial models.
#3: Medicine and Health
Regulatory paperwork costs for the healthcare sector reach about $70 billion and 11.5 billion work hours. IRS forms add around $35 billion and nearly 10 billion work hours. It’s no surprise, then, that many medical institutions are on their way to paperless offices.
The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services operates the CERT program to help online signatures comply with Medicare requirements. As well, Foxit eSign goes out of its way for HIPAA compliance. Safeguards and security measures make this free electronic signature software safer than ever.
#4: Insurance
If you have interacted with the health care system, you have probably noticed unnecessary administrative tasks. All these tasks come at a high cost. Each year, health care payers and providers in the United States spend about $496 billion on billing and insurance-related (BIR) costs. The aim is to reach a paperwork expense of $70 billion annually. Hospital BIR is at $74 billion, while nursing homes, home health care, drug, and medical supply companies, and the like can spend upwards of $94 billion. Even worse, private insurance companies see costs of nearly $200 billion, while government-sponsored programs, which pay the least, still spend $35 billion!
With an electronic signature solution, insurance companies can reduce by 80% the insurance itemized expenses.
#5: Education
Schools that employ e-signatures can go green, work faster, and lower their costs. Paperwork, time, and resources get saved both for the school and the students. Student services can grow and operate much more efficiently. Campus activities, the student life cycle, grants, research, finances, human capital, assets – all of these see improvement by eliminating unnecessary hard copy paperwork. As well, the US Dept. of Education has a standard in place for e-signatures in Education Industries.
Benefits
In summary, switching to e-signatures software such as Foxit eSign can save time and money, along with storage costs. Security will improve as will efficiency and long-term investments – and, bonus, it’s good for the planet, too!
If your business isn’t already employing e-signatures, the above are just some of the reasons it’s time to start considering their use.
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