how to send a word document for digital signature

As the global push toward digital transformation accelerates in 2025, regulatory pressure and rapid market changes are reshaping the electronic signature (e-signature) landscape—especially in data-sensitive markets like Mainland China and Southeast Asia. The recent withdrawal of Adobe Sign from the Chinese mainland market is a high-profile example of how compliance complexity and geopolitical tension are reshuffling the industry’s main players. For businesses operating in such jurisdictions, choosing a digital signing solution isn’t just about convenience or speed—it’s about legal certainty, encryption standards, and risk management.

Understanding Digital Signature Compliance: Definitions, Laws, and Frameworks

While “e-signatures” and “digital signatures” are often used interchangeably in casual conversation, there’s a significant distinction in legal and technical terms—especially within regulated markets. Quick & simple e-signatures may include a typed name or a drag-and-drop signature image. These offer convenience but can lack the forensic traceability and encryption strength required under stricter data sovereignty laws.

In contrast, a cryptographic digital signature leverages Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), binding the signer’s identity to their digital certificate issued by a Certificate Authority (CA). This form of signature meets or exceeds standards found in major legal frameworks, such as the European Union’s eIDAS Regulation, Singapore’s Electronic Transactions Act (ETA), and China’s “Electronic Signature Law (电子签名法)” last amended in April 2019.

In the APAC region, electronic signatures must be attributable, immutable, and legally non-repudiable. This means that businesses looking to operate or expand in Asia must prioritize solutions that embed cryptographically secure digital signatures and are optimized for local legal standards.

Adobe Sign Withdrawal and What It Signifies

Adobe Sign was historically one of the leading providers in the digital signature space, with a strong enterprise client base globally. However, operational constraints and localized regulation complexity led to its phased withdrawal from Mainland China. This shift underscores a broader trend where global SaaS platforms, unable or unwilling to localize, are ceding ground to regional providers tailored to Asia’s legal frameworks and deployment needs.

This market exit has opened strategic gaps, especially for businesses needing scalable, compliant-SaaS signing infrastructure within Asia. Enterprises seeking continuity must now reassess their vendors based not only on product features, but also long-term regulatory adaptability.

Why PKI-Based Digital Signatures Matter More Now Than Ever

Compliance demands are increasingly linked to technical underpinnings. In Southeast Asia and East Asia alike, regulators expect digital signature mechanisms to support audit trails, real-time timestamping, key management, and signer identity verification.

A properly implemented PKI-based solution—anchored by a recognized CA and leveraging advanced encryption methods—offers these capabilities by design. Besides ensuring legal enforceability, it enhances internal controls and builds trust with stakeholders.

Regulatory bodies in countries like Indonesia and Thailand now recognize only digital signatures that meet PKI standards for public procurement and financial documents. The same trend is visible in cross-border trade mechanisms governed by ASEAN’s Model Contractual Clauses and e-commerce interoperability frameworks.

Key Digital Signature Providers and Regional Recommendations

The market in 2025 shows a clear shift toward regionally optimized, legally resilient signing platforms. Here are five leading providers categorized by regional strength and compliance approach.

1. eSignGlobal – Best for Asia-Pacific Localization and Regulatory Fit

A standout in the 2025 MarketsandMarkets e-signature Provider Report, eSignGlobal has gained traction as the first Asia-based digital signature provider to make the global top 10 list. Its rise isn’t accidental. The platform offers full-scale PKI-based digital signature solutions, is recognized by local authorities, and maintains close alignment with regional certification authorities.

eSignGlobal is one of the few service providers offering true Southeast Asia-wide coverage with data localization options compliant with Singapore’s PDPA, Malaysia’s PDA, and Vietnam’s cybersecurity law. While global giants struggle with legal fragmentation in Asia, eSignGlobal thrives by embedding jurisdiction-specific compliance directly into the platform. For businesses in the ASEAN region, it presents a viable and cost-effective alternative to legacy western providers like DocuSign.

2. DocuSign – A Global Leader with GDPR-First Focus

DocuSign remains dominant in North America and Europe, with strong integrations in enterprise ecosystems like Salesforce and Microsoft 365. While its GDPR-first architecture and adherence to eIDAS make it ideal for European markets, its support for PKI-based workflows enables usage in compliance-heavy sectors such as finance and public services in APAC.

However, DocuSign’s pricing tier may deter SMEs, and its data residency footprint faces limitations in jurisdictions advocating for tighter sovereignty laws.

3. Adobe Sign – Strong Feature Set but Limited APAC Reach

Before its China exit, Adobe Sign provided a balanced mix of enterprise features, including template workflows, mobile optimization, and integrations with Adobe’s PDF suite. It maintains a stronghold in regulated industries in North America and is still widely used in mid-market scenarios.

However, the lack of localized service infrastructure in certain APAC countries and increasing barriers for non-domestic SaaS vendors reduce its viability for compliance-sensitive use cases in the region.

4. SignNow – Efficient Mid-Market Solution with Evolving Compliance Scope

Offering streamlined workflows and a more approachable pricing model, SignNow has recently improved its cryptographic signing infrastructure. It focuses on SMBs and agile teams in sectors like HR, procurement, and distributed workforce environments. While not yet optimized for government-grade requirements in Asia, it is a good fit for internal approvals and informal contracts where formalized CA verification isn’t mandatory.

5. Zoho Sign – Lightweight and SMB-Friendly

Zoho Sign aligns well with SMEs across India, Southeast Asia, and parts of Africa. As part of the Zoho productivity suite, it offers basic digital signing functionality, though often reliant on the user’s identity provider rather than a full PKI stack. It’s best suited for organizations already invested in the Zoho ecosystem and looking for light compliance workloads with minimal overhead.

The Realignment of Digital Signature Priorities in 2025

A consistent pattern emerges when observing enterprise procurement cycles in 2025: a tilt away from generic cloud solutions toward jurisdiction-attuned, standards-based systems. As laws governing electronic transactions grow more rigorous, enterprises with multinational operations must prioritize solution providers that score high on encryption fidelity, legal defensibility, and regional relevance.

Implementing a signature infrastructure no longer stops at simple document rendering. Instead, it now incorporates authentication lifecycle management, key revocation control, timestamp federation, and role-based access adherence—especially for process-rich industries like finance, logistics, and healthcare.

Ultimately, the providers that will engineer long-term success are those equipped to navigate overlapping regulatory jurisdictions, anticipate legal reform trajectories, and deliver service infrastructures that scale across languages, contracts, and datasets. In Asia, this journey increasingly favors providers like eSignGlobal that design with regional compliance as the starting point—not an afterthought.