Around the world, the preference for the online channel for documentation processes is increasing, and governments are also encouraging the adoption of technologies that can authenticate such transactions. In addition to this, the need for the smooth management of the supply chain, security, and efficiency of the workflow is rising in the corporate sector. As a result of all these factors, the global e-signature market is predicted to witness a 26.6% CAGR during 2021–2030 (forecast period), to reach $12,721.4 million by 2030.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had a beneficial impact on e-signature solution and service providers. As a result of remote working policies and increasing need for secure connectivity and online transactions, the market is experiencing tremendous expansion. Furthermore, the procedure of distributing signed PDF documents has rendered most in-person contract closings obsolete. In the age of COVID-19, this "new normal" continues to increase the adoption of e-signatures. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York, for example, recently declared that it will now accept some documents using e-signatures in certain instances. Consistent with the increasing use of e-signatures in the current context, such practices are likely to persist for several years.
The market is categorized into public key infrastructure (PKI), username and PIN, signature pad at point of sale (POS), clickwrap, voice signature, and others, on the basis of type. Among these, the PKI category was the largest in 2020 because PKI solutions guarantee signer and document authenticity in a secure and cost-effective manner. The solutions consist of standards, policies, hardware, and software, which are becoming trusted entities for ensuring the authentication of an e-signature. Hence, with the rising focus of organizations on implementing these solutions for cybersecurity management, the PKI category is growing.
The e-signature market is categorized into software, hardware, and service, on the basis of component. Out of these, the service category will be the fastest growing throughout the forecast period. This will be because the lack of awareness and technical skills to manage large-scale operations is resulting in the increasing need for cloud, consultancy, maintenance, and implementation services.
Further, the service category is categorized into managed and professional services, of which the managed services category held the larger share in 2020. This was due to the growing demand of companies for higher security of their operations, along with cost savings. Apart from time and cost savings, Such services facilitate monitoring and implementation of the solutions.
Geographically, the Asia-Pacific (APAC) digital signature market is expected to exhibit the fastest growth during the forecast period on account of the growing adoption of digital services, increasing online commerce activities, and surging user acceptance of paperless transactions, online billing, and payment facilities. Additionally, India is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period.
In recent years, e-signature market players have launched an array of new and improved solutions in order to augment their sales and geographical reach.
The major global e-signature market players are Secured Signing Limited, Adobe Inc., Entrust Datacard Corporation, SIGNiX Inc., DocuSign Inc., Ascertia Limited, Thales eSecurity Inc., Citrix Systems Inc., Gemalto N.V., RPost Communications Limited, IndenTrust Inc., eSign Genie, Glykka LLC, KeepSolid Inc., DocVerify Inc., Symtrax Holdings Inc., GetAccept Inc., SignaShare, and Zoho Corporation Pvt. Ltd.