South African digital signature technology gains ground in Africa

The Impression™ app, a South African innovation which allows users to sign documents electronically, has become a leading business app across Africa.
Andrew Papastefanou, Founder of Impression Signatures, says the Impression™ app provides users with the power to sign important documents legally, in any location, using any smart device - even when offline.

“After our launch in 2015, we’ve seen massive growth on our mobile platform, especially in Africa,” says Papastefanou, “In fact, we’re ranked by the Google Play Store as one the top business apps downloaded in various African countries, coming second in Tanzania and sixth in Kenya for example,” says Papastefanou.
The ranking is derived from multiple factors such as number of times the app has been downloaded, its ratings on the store and how long the app is retained for on the device.
Impression™ is available as a free download on Apple iTunes, Google Play and Microsoft Store and allows users to open and share documents with popular apps such as Whatsapp, DropBox, Google Drive and email.

“People are looking for convenience and with the prevalence of smartphones, Impression is an obvious choice for consumers. It no longer matters if you’re in the office or at the beach, you can now sign and send those important documents with a few swipes of your finger or stylus,” Papastefanou says.

Viewing documents signed with Impression™ only requires a free PDF reader, which provides users with a green tick to indicate the document hasn’t been tampered with since it was safely signed.Being fully compliant with relevant security and data regulations, including the South African Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 2002, is another key benefit of Impression™. “South Africa’s signature laws are the most stringent and comprehensive of their kind on the continent. This has benefitted us when taking the app to other African countries who are looking to South Africa as an example of how signature laws should be written,” says Papastefanou.

He concludes, “Impression maintains high standards of security with strong anti-forgery and encryption features to ensure protection for both the signee and the organisation requiring the signature. These digital signatures are enhanced with GPS locations, device and network identifiers, making it easy to track a full audit trail.”