Fintech start-up A.S.A.P. has launched a digital financial advice platform with an integrated e-signature solution provided by VASCO Data Security’s eSignLive. The first service of its kind in Australia, A.S.A.P. provides accountants and their clients with a digital, highly-efficient and cost-effective way to meet new financial services regulations.

A.S.A.P. (which stands for ‘Accountants Scaled Advice Platform’) was established in June 2016 in response to changes introduced by Australia’s corporate regulator ASIC. 

A.S.A.P. services the fastest-growing segment of the superannuation sector, the self-managed super fund (SMSF).  SMSFs in Australia number in excess of 570,000 and currently manage more than $A600 billion in financial assets.  

A key component of the A.S.A.P. digital advice platform is its e-signature capabilities. There are a range of documents throughout the onboarding process that require the client’s signature, which in a traditional paper-based process would take a number of weeks to complete.

To ensure an end-to-end, efficient digital process, eSignLive e-signature technology has been embedded throughout, including fee and service agreements and letters of authority. With eSignLive, the entire process to onboard a client can be completed in under a day.

“eSignLive ensures that the whole client onboarding process with A.S.A.P. is as streamlined and effortless as possible – for both accountants and their clients. At the same time, this is a highly regulated and paperwork-heavy industry, and eSignLive provides us with the necessary levels of authentication, security, legality and auditability we need for compliance,” said A.S.A.P.’s CEO Jim Hennington.

A.S.A.P. evaluated leading e-signature providers and selected eSignLive based on the solution’s brand integrity and recognition in regulated markets, ease of use and integration, support and in-country data residency.

“Using eSignLive puts the focus on the important part of the process – giving the best possible financial advice to clients – by keeping the time and effort spent on administrative tasks, like chasing clients and staff members for signatures, to a minimum,” said eSignLive President, Tommy Petrogiannis.

“We are seeing an increasing uptake for our e-signature solutions in the Australian financial services sector, both with traditional financial services firms undergoing significant digital transformation programs and fintech start-ups like A.S.A.P. disrupting the industry with innovative solutions that can be delivered at scale.”

In June, lending and insurance brokerage firm Savvy Finance was announced by eSignLive as the latest in a number of financial services organisations to integrate e-signature solutions.  In March, eSignLive announced the establishment of in-country data residency, leveraging IBM Cloud SoftLayer data centres in Sydney and Melbourne to process digital transactions initiated through its cloud e-signature solution.

To find out more about e-signatures in Australia, download the complimentary Beginner’s Guide to E-Signatures at http://secure.esignlive.com/Beginners-Guide-to-eSignatures-in-Australia.html.

Financial services organisations looking to add the convenience of e-signatures to their processes can try a quick demo of eSignLive at www.esignlive.com/products/quick-demo.