In the Media
Maintaining compliance in the shift toward digitization
Read Time: 1 minThe COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the shift to digital contracting, and automotive and powersports lenders are implementing the programming and vendor relationships required to ensure electronic signatures result in binding contracts. Member Jason Bichsel offered insight to Auto Finance Excellence in a November 8 article on maintaining compliance in the shift toward digitization.
“In the case of e-sign, the pace of technological development and business ingenuity is moving faster than the law,” McGlinchey Stafford Member Jason Bichsel said, noting that lenders can implement the necessary procedures to create enforceable digital contracts.
Courts are paying close attention to the need for a singular authoritative copy of every e-contract, Bichsel said. Altering digital contracts “is a very real concern and you have courts scrutinizing the process,” he said. Lenders can look to third-party hosts to store the authoritative copy of a contract, eliminating the risk of potential alteration.