FinDock e-mandates

FinDock e-mandates is an optional paid feature that enables organizations to leverage the growing popularity of electronic identification (eID).

What counts as a legally binding eID and electronic signature varies from country to country, and payment method to payment method.

Direct debit mandates can be signed in several ways. In many cases there are accepted standards or legal frameworks governing the signature type implementation and usage. Here we go through the two basic forms - wet and electronic - and elaborate on the forms of the latter applicable to e-mandates.

This time-honored signature type, pen on paper, is already supported by FinDock native direct debit processing and Salesforce. The creditor organization is responsible for creating the paperwork and getting the signature. Once signed, the physical artifact is archived by the organization, and FinDock Mandate records with the authorization details are used to collect payments.

This signature type is still required in some markets and a strong legal fallback for disputes. However, they are operationally burdensome and slow, which is why e-mandates are gaining quickly in popularity.

Electronic identification and the related electronic signature (eSignature) signature type covers a range of identification standards and technologies to identify a person and a unique signature event.

Within the European Union, for example, the eIDAS Regulation lays out a standardized framework with three tiers:

• Simple Electronic Signature (SES) — anything that associates a person with a document, from a click-to-sign button to a scanned image. This tier carries low legal weight given the wide range of acceptable signature methods, so it is only accepted for low-risk use cases in certain markets.
• Advanced Electronic Signature (AdES) — this tier carries a strong, unique link to the debtor's signature that includes change detection. For example, one-time codes (OTP/SMS) or email confirmation are common implementations of AdES. This tier is widely used in SEPA zone.
• Qualified Electronic Signature (QES) — this tier is the strictest and is legally equivalent to a wet signature. A QES implementation requires a qualified certificate issued by a Trust Service Provider (TSP) and can include hardware tokens or national eID schemes.

Another approach is Online Banking Authentication (OBA / iDx). With this signature type, debtors authenticate signatures (approve the mandate) through their own bank's eID implementation, such BankID in Sweden. This is what the Dutch incassomachtigen.nl service provides. A key element of the implementations is responsibility - the bank determines what qualifies as the accepted identify provider. The technical implementation typically has a very strong evidence chain.

In the United States and other regions, the Adobe Trust Services are recognized as legal eID and eSignature methods.

Through the e-mandate service, FinDock offers a simple, seamless process for creating and storing digitally signed electronic mandates (e-mandates).

What counts as a legally binding eID varies from country to country, and payment method to payment method.

Currently, the FinDock e-mandate feature supports the following e-mandate signature types and payment method-processor combinations.

¹ Qualified digital signature (eiDAS)
² Qualified digital signature (iDx) with mandates stored at bank