In France, electronic signatures are gaining in popularity among the general public, with increasing use for routine administrative tasks and insurance underwriting.
According to a recent study by Ipsos Digital for Yousign, carried out among 1,000 people representative of the population aged 18 to 75, 87% of French people have already used electronic signatures, particularly in the 18-34 age bracket. Of these users, 70% say they use electronic signatures less than once a month, mainly to sign documents sent to them (70%), while 27% use them to send documents for signature.
The main areas of use for electronic signatures are routine administrative procedures (42%) and taking out insurance (40%). It is also used, albeit less frequently, for work-related administrative procedures (21%), loans (20%) or buying/renting real estate (16%).
An emerging trend is the preference for digital over paper, with 73% of French people seeing the switch to digital as a positive development. This perception has spurred the development of low-cost, mass-market electronic signature offerings, which could help transform traditional, time-consuming practices such as printing, scanning and mailing.
Electronic signature, the obstacles that slow down its diffusion
However, despite this positive trend, there are still some factors that are holding back the adoption of electronic signatures by the general public. Among them, fear of identity theft (28% of respondents) and lack of confidence in data storage (20% of respondents) are major concerns. A similar proportion also admit to being apprehensive about accepting new practices without a thorough understanding of the technologies. This opens up new possibilities, while at the same time requiring efforts to guarantee security and user confidence.
