TL;DR
An electronic signature means signing a document digitally instead of on paper. It is legally binding in Sweden and across the EU under eIDAS, Regulation (EU) 910/2014, and it covers almost every agreement a company signs: employment contracts, NDAs, consulting agreements, quotes and leases. A few document types still carry formal requirements in law. Services do not differ in whether the signature is valid. They differ in how well it can be proven on the day someone disputes it.
An electronic signature is a person signing a document digitally, with the signature tied to that document so it can be checked afterwards.
eIDAS puts it as "data in electronic form which is attached to or logically associated with other data in electronic form and which is used by the signatory to sign" (Article 3(10)). The definition is deliberately wide. A scanned signature, a tick box and a signature made with an electronic ID all fit inside it.
The difference between them is invisible at signing. It appears when someone disputes the agreement.
In everyday use, none. The words are used interchangeably, by vendors and customers alike.
There is a technical distinction worth knowing. Electronic signature is the legal category, meaning anything used to sign digitally. Digital signature is the cryptography underneath, where a key pair and a certificate lock the content so changes can be detected. Most serious services use digital signature technology to produce the electronic signature.
You do not need to keep the words apart when buying. You do need to know that one describes the law and the other describes the mechanics.
Yes. Article 25(1) of eIDAS leaves little room for doubt:
"An electronic signature shall not be denied legal effect and admissibility as evidence in legal proceedings solely on the grounds that it is in an electronic form or that it does not meet the requirements for qualified electronic signatures."
Swedish contract law adds to this by setting no formal requirements for most agreements. A contract becomes binding through offer and acceptance, and the form is free unless the law says otherwise for that specific document type.
So the question of validity almost always has the same answer. The question that decides anything is a different one: how strong is the evidence if the agreement ends up in dispute.
eIDAS sets out three levels, and they are confused even by vendors who should know better.
The simple electronic signature (Article 3(10)) is the wide definition above. It is valid, but its evidential weight rests entirely on what the service documents around the signing.
The advanced electronic signature (Article 3(11), with requirements in Article 26) must be uniquely linked to the signatory, capable of identifying them, created using means the signatory controls, and linked to the document so that later changes are detectable. Signing with an electronic ID normally lands here.
The qualified electronic signature (Article 3(12)) is an advanced signature created by a qualified device and based on a qualified certificate. Only this level carries, under Article 25(2), the equivalent legal effect of a handwritten signature, and under Article 25(3) it must be recognised across every member state.
A common misconception is that the highest level is always needed. It rarely is. The requirement follows the document type and what the counterparty asks for, not whichever level sounds safest in a sales deck.
Almost everything a company signs day to day. Employment contracts, NDAs, consulting agreements, quotes, order confirmations, leases for premises and equipment, board minutes and powers of attorney all work electronically.
The exceptions are few. Those that exist rest on formal requirements a legislator set for reasons unrelated to technology, such as a will having to be written and witnessed by two people, or certain property transfer documents having to be drawn up in a particular way. If you are unsure about a document type, that is a question for a lawyer, not for the vendor selling the signing.
The flow looks broadly the same whichever vendor you use:
For the sender it takes minutes. For the recipient, seconds. That gap against paper is the whole point: agreements get signed the same day instead of the same week.
Identification decides what the signature is worth as evidence, and it can be done at different strengths.
The simplest is email and a link, which shows the recipient had access to a given inbox. That carries you a long way between parties who already know each other. A one time code by SMS adds something the recipient has, not only something they can reach. The strongest option in the Nordics is an electronic ID, where identity is checked against a trusted issuer, and where the signature normally becomes an advanced signature under eIDAS.
TRUE Sign offers a choice between BankID and Freja ID. BankID is the one Swedes already carry on their phone, while Freja ID also works for counterparties outside Sweden, which matters the moment an agreement crosses a border.
Every step up costs friction for the counterparty. Pick the level that matches the risk in the agreement.
BankID is not a signing service. It is an electronic ID, a way of proving who you are, and signing services use it as one of several ways to identify the person signing.
The confusion is understandable, since most Swedes meet BankID when they sign something and connect the two. The roles are separate. The signing service handles the document, the fields, the order between signatories and the sealing afterwards, while the electronic ID answers one question: is this really this person. A signature made with BankID normally meets the requirements for an advanced electronic signature under Article 26 of eIDAS, because identity is verified against a trusted issuer and the signature is bound to the document.
It also means choosing an electronic ID and choosing a signing service are two decisions, not one. A good service lets you pick identification per document rather than locking the whole organisation to one level. TRUE Sign supports both BankID and Freja ID, so the level can follow the agreement rather than whatever the service happens to have.
Yes, and it is one of the larger gains from signing electronically.
eIDAS applies across the EU, which means a signature meeting the regulation's requirements must be accepted in every member state, and Article 25(3) states explicitly that a qualified signature issued in one member state shall be recognised as qualified in all others. For agreements inside the union the legal basis is the same wherever the counterparty sits.
Outside the EU the picture fragments. Many countries recognise electronic signatures but under their own rules, and a few document types still require paper in certain jurisdictions. In practice that means two things. Check what applies in the counterparty's country for high value agreements, and choose a service where the counterparty can sign without first obtaining a Swedish electronic ID. That is why TRUE Sign carries both BankID and Freja ID: BankID covers the Swedish counterparty, Freja ID works internationally.
This is where most vendors stop talking, and where the part that matters begins.
A signed agreement has to hold for years. If it is disputed, three things need to be shown: who signed, what they signed, and that the content has not changed since. Any serious service solves the first two at the moment of signing. The third is about the time afterwards, and it is harder, because a document whose proof exists only in a vendor's database depends on that vendor still existing, the log being untouched, and you still having an account there.
The technique that solves it is a cryptographic hash, a fingerprint of the file. Change one letter and the fingerprint changes. Anchor that fingerprint in an independent source and you can show, long afterwards, that exactly this file looked exactly like this at exactly that moment, and anyone can run the check.
That is the difference between an agreement that is signed and one that is provable. The first holds until someone objects.
Start with the counterparty, not the feature list. Every install, account and login you demand of the person signing is a signature that never happens, and that cost never appears in the quote.
Then think about identification level. Is email enough for your most common agreements, or is an electronic ID required? Can you choose per document, or does the service lock the whole organisation to one level?
Ask what happens to the proof over time. If it lives in the vendor's database you have a dependency, not proof. Ask too whether an outsider can verify the document. A counterparty, an auditor or a court should manage that without an account with the vendor.
Finally, do the maths on your own volume. Many services price per user per month, which gets expensive for organisations where many people send few agreements.
Pricing takes three shapes, and the model matters more than the figure.
Per user per month is the most common among the larger vendors. It works when a few people send many agreements, and gets expensive when many people send few. Per document is simple to calculate at low or uneven volume, but grows with use. A fixed price with an included volume sits between the two, often with a per document charge above the allowance.
Ask what is included before comparing list prices, because the three things that usually decide the final bill rarely appear in the price list: whether identification with an electronic ID costs extra, whether there is a cap on documents, and what it costs to export your own agreements if you change vendor. That last one is almost always forgotten. A low monthly price is not cheap if your agreements are hard to take with you.
Signing electronically is generally safer than paper. A paper agreement can be altered without trace after signing, and nobody can show afterwards exactly when it was signed. An electronically signed document is locked at signing and carries a timestamp and a log.
Normal rules apply for GDPR. The service processes personal data on your behalf, so you need a data processing agreement and should know where the data is stored. Four questions get you most of the way:
The last is the hardest to answer, and reveals the most about how the service is built.
TRUE Sign is built around the question of what happens after signing.
You upload a PDF, the counterparty opens a link and signs in the browser, and the finished document is sealed with proof that travels with the file. The fingerprint is anchored so the document can be checked afterwards, independently of us.
That comes from TRUE not having been built as a signing tool first. The foundation is document verification, and the same infrastructure already carries hundreds of thousands of issued certificates and diplomas. Signing is one way in. A signed agreement is therefore verified the same way as everything else we issue.
Identification is done with BankID or Freja ID, the latter working for counterparties outside Sweden as well.
Pricing is deliberately competitive, for individuals as well as companies.
Is electronic signing legally binding?
Yes. Under Article 25(1) of eIDAS an electronic signature cannot be denied legal effect solely because it is electronic, and Swedish contract law sets no formal requirements for most agreements.
What is the difference between an electronic signature and a digital signature?
In everyday use, none. Electronic signature is the legal category, digital signature is the cryptography often used to create it.
Does the counterparty need an account to sign?
Not with most services. The recipient opens a link and signs in the browser.
Can I sign with BankID or Freja ID?
Yes. TRUE Sign supports both. BankID is used by Swedish counterparties, and Freja ID works internationally.
Which level of electronic signature do I need?
Almost always simple or advanced. Qualified is required only when law or the counterparty explicitly asks for it.
Which documents cannot be signed electronically?
Those carrying formal requirements in law, such as wills and certain property transfer documents.
How do I know the document has not changed after signing?
Through the document's cryptographic fingerprint. Change the content and the fingerprint changes, and if the fingerprint is anchored independently the check can be run without access to the vendor's system.
How long does signing take?
Seconds for the recipient, minutes for the sender to prepare and send.
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