With the development of Internet technology, most civil acts can be completed online, and the rise of electronic contracts conforms to the trend of reducing costs, improving efficiency and digitalization of enterprises.
From the initial e-commerce, Internet finance, tourism, online renting, to today's enterprise procurement, logistics, sales, distribution, bidding, leasing, labor employment, education and training, decoration engineering and finance and other fields, it can be said that electronic contracts have penetrated into all industries that can use digital methods to improve and manage business processes, and also bring the effect of reducing costs and increasing efficiency and driving business growth for these enterprises.
More importantly, with the recognition of electronic contracts by laws and regulations such as the Electronic Signature Law and the Rules for Adjudication of Electronic Evidence, as well as judicial decisions, the legal effect of electronic contracts has been further clarified. In relevant precedents, electronic contracts are used as judicial evidence to better protect the legitimate rights and interests of enterprises, and also allow more enterprises to see the advantages of electronic contracts: lower cost, higher efficiency and safer.
Since the outbreak of the epidemic in 2019, new scenarios such as approval, remote work, and contract signing have become a trend, and electronic signing has accelerated the penetration of various fields. The development of blockchain technology has also provided a reliable way to sign electronically. With the characteristics of decentralization, non-tampering, traceability, traceability, openness and transparency, the validity and legitimacy of electronic signatures are guaranteed, and the popularization speed is faster.
Many large companies are also using electronic contracts, such as Suning Tesco, JD.com, Ping An Real Estate, Staples, Ingram Micro, ITG, Nippon, Haid Group, Osram Lighting Group and other well-known enterprises have also deeply integrated electronic signatures into enterprise business processes. In the Internet era, the value of the model of electronic signature + electronic contract + collaborative office is becoming increasingly prominent.
Why do many companies now use electronic contracts to sign contracts?
First, the first signing, high efficiency
The electronic contract can be signed on the first stage after the electronic signature is generated through online identity authentication, the upload of the contract text, and the signature and seal are immediate, which can reduce the possibility of regret in the process of contract signing, maximize the transaction, and improve the efficiency of contract signing.
Second, the cost of signing is low
Compared with the traditional contract signed in a different place, which needs to be signed and sealed by mail, the electronic contract does not need to mail paper texts, only needs to be signed by mobile phone WeChat, and does not incur the mailing cost of signing the contract, and even the related costs such as printing and binding fees can be saved, which greatly reduces the cost in the process of signing the contract. Especially for the signing of contracts with overseas customers, it has high practical value.
Third, the contract management is simple, low cost and easy to consult
From the point of view of contract management, after the electronic contract is signed, it can be saved by the signatory, and at the same time, it is also saved online by the electronic contract signing platform, which is simpler and more convenient to save online, and can well classify and manage the electronic contract to avoid the mistakes caused by the manual classification operation. Electronic contracts do not require space, nor do they need to be stored and managed by special personnel, so the cost of management and preservation can be greatly reduced.
4. Electronic signatures and seals are automatically marked
The seals involved in the signing of electronic contracts are automatically generated online, and the corresponding signing logs will be automatically generated for each online use. The operator and other operation details are formed corresponding to the unchangeable operation log, this automatic trace of the technical means, greatly reduces the risk of the official seal manager of the private use of the official seal, even if there is still the private use of information for electronic contract signing, the electronic contract signing system on the automatic trace of the technical means also provides sufficient evidence support for the subsequent investigation of its responsibility.
5. Safe and reliable, tamper-proof
Paper contracts use paper as the medium, and the terms of the contract are easy to be tampered with, and the official seal is easy to be stolen and counterfeited. The electronic contract platform adopts the underlying basic technology of the blockchain and the hash value algorithm verification, which is equivalent to the "fingerprint" of electronic data, even if the slight change of the data will lead to the change of the hash value, and the hash value is irreversible. After the contract is signed, you can determine whether the contract has been modified after signing by checking the hash value of the data. Electronic data is used as the medium, and encryption technology is used in the transmission process to ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the transmission process.