Electronic Signatures for Banks and Credit Unions
A bank does not need a signature tool. It needs an evidence trail that survives an examination, a dispute and a discovery request — three audiences with very different questions and one shared demand: show me exactly what happened, and prove it has not changed.
The examiner asks a different question than the customer
The customer asks whether the loan is signed. The examiner asks whether the borrower consented to receive the disclosures electronically, whether the disclosures were the ones in effect that day, whether the record can be reproduced accurately, and how you know the person who signed was the borrower. Most institutions can answer the first question instantly and the rest slowly, by assembling evidence from four systems. That assembly is where remediation cost lives.
What the template covers
Identity verification proportionate to risk
Email confirmation for a routine form, government ID capture and biometric confirmation for a loan agreement. The record shows which was used, so the file itself explains why that level was appropriate.
Tamper-evident records
A SHA-256 hash of the executed document, captured at signature. If the file is altered by a single character afterwards, the hash no longer matches — which is what turns "we believe this is the signed version" into a demonstrable fact.
Consent captured, not assumed
The § 7001(c) consumer consent to electronic disclosures is presented, recorded and stored with the file, rather than living in a separate onboarding system nobody thinks to pull.
A complete chronological trail
Sent, opened, viewed, signed, with timestamps, IP addresses and device information. Reconstructing that from logs after the fact is possible; having it attached to the document is what makes it usable.
The rules that apply to a lender
The ESIGN Act, 15 U.S.C. § 7001, governs the electronic signature and, at § 7001(c), the consumer consent required before delivering electronically any disclosure that another law requires in writing — which in lending means Truth in Lending, Regulation Z and Regulation E disclosures, among others. Section 7001(d) requires the record to remain accessible and accurately reproducible by those entitled to it. Section 7003 excludes certain notices, including some default, foreclosure and insurance cancellation notices, so those still require the form the underlying law prescribes.
Ninety days of file reconstruction
A community lender used one system for identity, another for disclosures, a third for signatures and a fourth for storage. Every individual record was defensible. Assembling them into a coherent story, file by file, for an examination sample, took a two-person team most of a quarter. Nothing was wrong with the loans. The cost was entirely in proving that.
Questions people ask about this
Is an electronic signature enough for a loan agreement?
Yes, for the signature itself, under ESIGN and state UETA. What varies is the disclosure regime around the loan — consumer credit disclosures carry their own timing and consent requirements that the signature does not satisfy on its own.
How do we verify the signer is really the borrower?
Layered: email confirmation, then government ID capture with a selfie match, and where supported, device biometrics such as Touch ID or Windows Hello. The record states which layers were used for that signature.
Can we require paper for some products?
Yes. ESIGN permits but does not compel electronic records, and a consumer may decline or withdraw consent. Many institutions keep paper available for products where the disclosure regime is unsettled.
What should we retain, and for how long?
The executed document, the audit trail and the consent record, together, for at least the applicable record retention period and the statute of limitations — whichever is longer. Keeping them in one place is what makes retrieval survivable.