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Tuesday, 23 March 2021

Thndr-led alliance of fintech teams up to set up private e-signature service provider

Thndr is leading a consortium of five fintech companies looking to set up an independent e-signature service provider, the stock trading app said in a press release (pdf). Dubbed Imda, the consortium includes fintech platforms Digital Finance (DFin) Holding and Masria Card, facial recognition software developer Digified, and Public Partners Ins. Brokerage.

What is an e-signature, you ask? Just like real signatures, but digital. E-signatures are enforceable digital signatures that use encryption to securely verify the identity of a signatory, and authenticate certificates.

An end to paperwork? Together, the companies aim to roll out a service that will allow users to “create digitally verified identities” through which they can imprint their court approved e-signatures on digital documents, contracts and agreements. The announcement comes less than a month after the ICT Ministry’s executive arm ITIDA said it will award up to three licenses to tech companies to provide e-signature and timestamp services, a step it says will help develop Egypt’s digital economy.

CORRECTED ON 24 March 2021

A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the Thndr consortium could become the first independent e-signature provider. Information security company EgyptTrust, which is minority-owned by Telecom Egypt, has held a license to provide the service since 2005.

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