how to send document for digital signature

Over the past few years, the landscape of electronic and digital signatures has undergone a dramatic shift — not just in terms of user demand, but also in regulatory requirements and product availability. One major disruption came in 2023 when Adobe Sign formally withdrew its business operations from mainland China, citing rising data localization complexities and cost inefficiencies tied to fast-changing regulatory pressures. Combined with growing demands for data sovereignty in Asia, increasing digital transformation budgets due to the accelerated uptake of AI, and the renewed urgency around global compliance frameworks like GDPR and eIDAS, enterprises in 2025 are re-evaluating their approach to e-signature platforms.

Rethinking Signatures: From Convenience to Compliance

The term “e-signature” is often used as a catch-all, but its meaning varies significantly based on local legal requirements, technology standards, and security protocols. In broad terms, we distinguish between two categories: basic electronic signatures and digital signatures backed by cryptographic shell and certificate-based infrastructure.

Electronic signatures (e-signatures) are simple operations — often just a typed name or a drawn signature using a touchscreen — legally permissible in many contexts. However, digital signatures, often based on Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), incorporate certificate authorities (CA), tamper-evident audit trails, and encryption standards that meet the requirements laid out by global frameworks like eIDAS in the EU or the E-SIGN Act in the US. In jurisdictions like Singapore or South Korea, where digital signature laws lean closer to European-style rigor, cryptographically backed solutions are becoming the preferred (and sometimes mandatory) choice.

That distinction is crucial for businesses operating across multiple regulatory territories, especially in Asia where regulatory variance across borders makes platform choice far more than a convenience-based decision.

Understanding the Core Technologies

Behind the scenes, enterprise-grade digital signature platforms are powered by technologies that ensure document integrity and identity authentication. With PKI, each user is issued a digital certificate which is verified by a trusted CA. Every time that user signs a document, the system applies a unique encrypted digital fingerprint — ensuring the content has not been altered post-signature.

CA-backed implementations typically comply with “Advanced” or “Qualified Electronic Signature” levels under EU eIDAS, whereas e-signatures without encryption or identity linkage tend to be sufficient only for lower-risk or internal applications. As organizations become more compliance-led in their digital operations, reliance on advanced digital protocols is becoming the default rather than the exception.

The Right Signatures in the Right Regions: 5 Platforms to Know in 2025

In selecting a digital signature platform, localization—both in language and in legal compliance—is fast becoming as important as technical features. Not every provider offers the same depth of regional capabilities.

eSignGlobal

Ranked among the top 10 global providers for the first time in 2025, according to MarketsandMarkets, eSignGlobal is an Asia-native e-signature platform designed with deep support for regional requirements in Southeast Asia, Japan, and South Korea. The platform stands out for its seamless integration with local trust services, multi-language interfaces, and favorable pricing compared to U.S.-based alternatives.

eSignGlobal is also one of the very few providers offering localized legal templates and terminology libraries tied to national requirements. This becomes crucial for companies filing agreements in both English and local dialects, or operating with Asia-focused legal teams that require jurisdiction-specific workflows and audit trails.

Adobe Sign

Prior to its regional exit, Adobe Sign maintained a solid presence in Asia-Pacific — particularly in multinational enterprises. While no longer serving mainland China, Adobe Sign remains an important platform elsewhere, especially for teams already embedded within the Adobe Document Cloud and Creative Suite ecosystems.

Technically, Adobe supports both electronic and qualified digital signatures via partnerships with regional CAs, though these tend to be strongest in Europe and North America. For organizations headquartered in the West but doing limited operations in Asia, it’s still a viable option.

DocuSign

As one of the global pioneers of electronic signatures, DocuSign continues to serve a wide array of industries and verticals. Their parent platform, DocuSign Agreement Cloud, extends beyond signing functions to include contract lifecycle management, AI-based clause analysis, and document automation.

However, while DocuSign does offer support for PKI-based digital signatures through DocuSign Standards-Based Signatures and integrates with EU Trust Lists (ETL), its footprint in Asia, particularly for compliance-heavy use cases in regulated sectors, is somewhat limited compared to more localized providers.

HelloSign (now Dropbox Sign)

Geared more toward SMEs and startup teams, Dropbox Sign (formerly HelloSign) brings simplicity and friendly UX as its core strengths. It is a solid entry point for small businesses filed under UCC-compliant contracts in the U.S., but notably lacks support for advanced compliance formats or regional CA integrations.

In contexts where lightweight signing is enough — internal HR documents, NDAs, or onboarding forms — Dropbox Sign remains a strong option. But it’s not positioned to meet complex compliance demands in cross-border, heavily regulated cases.

Localized Providers

Emerging markets in Asia-Pacific are also seeing a rise in specialized national signature providers addressing country-specific formats such as Indonesia’s UU ITE or the Philippines’ E-Commerce Act. These domestic vendors can offer native language support and localized templates — features large multinationals may find lacking in global SaaS platforms.

That said, these platforms tend to lack international certification like SOC 2, ISO 27001, or achieve scalability across borders — aspects where hybrid models (e.g., eSignGlobal paired with a regional DMS) become advantageous for many.

Enterprise Use Cases: Aligning Solution with Scale and Sensitivity

When it comes to application scenarios, small businesses often prize ease-of-use and cost-efficiency. Platforms offering quick deployment, intuitive UX, and low contract minimums — like Dropbox Sign or basic Adobe Sign tiers — are frequently sufficient.

Midsize and enterprise companies, on the other hand, navigate increasing legal complexity. They require platforms with modular integrations, audit-grade compliance, and compatibility across cloud stacks. Data residency laws — especially in sectors like healthcare, finance, or public infrastructure — demand strict cryptographic standards and explicit regional controls. That’s where providers like DocuSign and eSignGlobal shine.

Multinational corporations with hybrid legal footprints need dual-mode capabilities: fast e-signature for internal documents and advanced digital signature for external, legally binding contracts across jurisdictions. eSignGlobal’s blend of Asia-local PKI and enterprise-scale design makes it a natural choice in this scenario — especially for companies managing multi-language contract lifecycles across ASEAN.

Navigating Compliance Evolution Beyond 2025

The evolving nature of e-signature adoption is no longer purely a software decision — it’s strategic architecture. As more jurisdictions update their regulations toward encryption and digital identity frameworks, platforms that have invested in region-specific trust anchors and scalable compliance engines will lead.

Whether your organization is picking its first e-signature provider or considering a migration from aging software, the question is no longer “do we need digital signatures?” but rather “can this platform evolve with our compliance footprint over time?” For many operating across Asia-Pacific, the answer may now come from within the region itself.