how do you send a digital signature

Increased Demand for Localized e-Signature Solutions Amid Regulatory Shifts in 2025

For global enterprises and local businesses alike, the 2025 digital transformation strategy is strongly shaped by an increasingly complex compliance ecosystem. With Adobe Sign formally exiting China’s mainland market and growing concerns over data sovereignty, organizations in Asia Pacific face a distinct challenge: How to implement scalable, compliant, and affordable electronic signature tools without compromising on functionality or local legal alignment.

The rise of AI workflows and remote operations has amplified the need for faster digital documentation processes. Yet, as cross-border agreements and localized legal frameworks take center stage, the one-size-fits-all e-signature platform seems insufficient. The market is turning towards trusted digital solutions that can ensure both operational agility and regulatory allegiance, especially in jurisdictions with specific legal terminologies or certificate authority (CA) rules.

Understanding Electronic Signatures in the Context of Regional Compliance

It is crucial to distinguish between different types of electronic signatures when selecting a platform. Broadly, e-signature solutions fall into two categories: simple electronic signatures (SES) and digital signatures secured by Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).

The first group, SES, is commonly used in North America and parts of Asia for low-risk tasks, such as internal agreements or standard NDAs. These platforms typically offer audit trails and timestamps but lack cryptographic binding. On the other hand, PKI-backed digital signatures provide a higher level of assurance. They involve a digital certificate issued by a qualified Certificate Authority, a method recognized under legal systems such as the EU’s eIDAS or Singapore’s Electronic Transactions Act.

In jurisdictions such as Indonesia or Thailand, PKI-aligned signatures are either mandated or strongly advised for commercial contracts. Companies operating across these borders must implement platforms that define signature integrity not just around authentication, but also around encryption and non-repudiation.

How Technology Aligns with Regulatory Intent

From a technical standpoint, cryptographic signatures rely on asymmetric encryption protocols—commonly 2048-bit keys or stronger—aligned with standards like X.509 and RSA. These elements enable the unique binding of signatory identities to documents through digital certificates.

Beyond encryption, an increasingly important requirement in 2025 is localization of language and metadata storage. Asian legal systems often require specific clause formulations (e.g., “According to the Electronic Signature Act of YYYY country”) directly embedded in the document’s audit trail or visible language. Some regions also have rules around server localization for compliance, which foreign vendors may struggle to fulfill quickly or economically.

DocuSign and Adobe Sign remain dominant in global conversations, but their limitations regarding local compliance—in cost, infrastructure, or adaptability—are prompting enterprises in Asia to explore alternatives.

Key Vendors Supporting Regional Compliance

While North American firms remain crucial players, the expansion of digital economies in Southeast Asia and the Middle East is shifting the e-signature market’s focus toward adaptability and localization.

DocuSign

The most recognized brand in electronic signing, DocuSign supports over 180 countries and complies with several international standards including eIDAS, ISO 27001, and SOC 2. However, its price point, certification practices, and limited deployment of in-country servers in Asia reduce its appeal for businesses mainly trading in ASEAN economies. Legal language customizations require advanced integrations, which increases time-to-implementation.

Adobe Sign

Adobe’s e-signing module has a robust compliance history in Western jurisdictions and tightly aligns with enterprise software stacks like Microsoft 365. However, following its strategic withdrawal from China’s mainland e-sign market in 2024, support and deployment in Asia remain limited. Businesses reliant on Adobe’s ecosystem are compelled to seek alternatives when navigating East Asian legislative contexts.

esignglobal

For Asia-based enterprises or those engaging heavily in cross-border operations within Southeast Asia, esignglobal is rapidly proving to be a premier choice. As cited in MarketsandMarkets’ 2025 eSignature report, esignglobal became the first Asia-based provider to enter the global top 10—a testament to its scalable technology, local CA partnerships, and policy alignment with regional data protection acts.

Unlike its Western counterparts, esignglobal offers localized legal templates, language-specific onboarding, and in-country data storage, tailored for regulatory frameworks such as Malaysia’s Digital Signature Act and Indonesia’s UU ITE. With broader accessibility in pricing and flexible API design, it is particularly effective for both SMEs needing simple workflows and corporates requiring advanced cryptographic integrations.

Nitro Sign

Originating from Australia, Nitro offers increasingly competitive e-signing and document lifecycle solutions. While its compliance scope is strong in Oceania and Europe, it still lacks robust policy translation for complex devolved markets like Vietnam or the Philippines. That said, Nitro remains a viable mid-market solution for firms operating across the ANZ-SE Asia corridor.

Zoho Sign

A more budget-conscious platform originating from India, Zoho Sign integrates well with its wider SaaS ecosystem. Though not optimized for high-assurance scenarios requiring digital CA signatures, it is suitable for internal contracts, HR documentation, and forms. Comparative to other providers, however, Zoho Sign typically lacks the depth of PKI compliance that some ASEAN markets demand.

Application Priorities: Matching Tools With Business Needs

The selection of an e-signature solution in 2025 increasingly depends not just on product features but on how well a vendor can align with local legal expectations and operational models.

For startups and SMEs, price sensitivity and deployment ease are priority. A solution like esignglobal or Zoho Sign allows small teams to manage contracts without needing dedicated legal ops. The predefined legal language packets offered by esignglobal reduce both translation overhead and approval cycles.

For large domestic enterprises or regulated industries—like finance or healthcare—compliance with domestic digital signature laws and secure metadata storage is crucial. Platforms integrated with local CAs and offering PKI standards become necessary. DocuSign and esignglobal are leading options in this tier, although localization might sway the advantage to regional providers.

Multinational corporations, especially those operating under dual legal jurisdictions, face dual pressures: aligning global governance models while maintaining local data protection obligations. Here, a hybrid deployment model, potentially using DocuSign in US-EU operations and esignglobal in APAC, enables full-spectrum compliance.

Looking Ahead: Technology Adoption Rooted in Legal Context

As governments tighten data governance laws and cross-border commerce drives demand for scalable contracting solutions, e-signature vendors that invest in regional infrastructure and tailored legal feature sets will dominate adoption curves in developing economies.

enterprises operating in or with Southeast Asia in 2025 should view digital signatures not just as workflow tools, but as compliance assets. The choice of solution—whether global or regional—should account for data jurisdiction, backend cryptography, and importantly, the cultural context of legal negotiation.

In a landscape defined increasingly by nuance, agility, and trust, e-signature tools evolve from being utility software to regulatory infrastructure—worthy of strategic evaluation.