Help on Swisscom Sign for business customers

General topics about Swisscom Sign and the electronic signature.

Getting started with Swisscom Sign.

Questions about documents and their management.

Everything you need to know about data protection and encryption.

 General

Signing without pen and paper: The qualified electronic signature (QES) replaces handwritten signatures in the digital world. This allows you to sign documents around the clock on the web – conveniently on your computer or on your mobile phone with a scanning function. It is a server-based remote signature solution provided by Swisscom. It enables persons and companies to validly conclude online business processes with the help of electronic signatures and seals. The advantages of electronic signatures are efficient digital processes without media discontinuity, no paper consumption, as well as cost and time savings.

A qualified electronic signature (QES) is equivalent to a handwritten signature under Swiss law and is valid throughout the entire Swiss legal area. This enables you to electronically sign in a legally valid manner all documents that you have previously signed manually (simple written form). If you want to sign a document for the European legal area, select our QES according to the European Signature Standard (eIDAS).

Administrative processes become much simpler, faster and more secure. This is because an electronic signature not only reduces costly business processes and saves resources in terms of transport and paper, but also protects the signed document against tampering and is thus a trustworthy alternative to a handwritten signature.

Before using Swisscom Sign, you must identify yourself once.

  • Upload document to sign.swisscom.ch(opens in new tab) or in the My Swisscom app
  • Invite other persons to sign (if applicable)
  • Sign document via My Swisscom app
  • Download signed document

The qualified electronic signature (QES) is governed in Switzerland by the Swiss Federal Act on Electronic Signatures (ESigA).

A document cannot be signed through several different signature providers at the same time.

The qualified electronic signature (QES) is legally equivalent to a handwritten signature and meets the highest security standards. It is therefore also necessary to ensure that the person who signs a document is actually the person they claim to be. For this reason, you must provide an identity document once.

Yes. You can release your signature in the My Swisscom app and digitally confirm your intention.

You can test Swisscom Sign for private purposes very easily and with no commitment. Registration is free of charge.

You can use Swisscom Sign on your computer or directly in the My Swisscom app. To do this, go to sign.swisscom.ch(opens in new tab).

To be able to digitally sign your documents with Swisscom Sign, you need:

  • A smartphone
  • The My Swisscom App
  • Successful identity verification with a valid identity document

Currently, Swisscom Sign is only available via the My Swisscom app. The app is available for download from both Apple and Android's Swiss app stores.

The easiest way to pay for a commercial signature is directly with Swisscom Pay. However, you can also pay by credit card, TWINT or Google Pay.

We do not charge any fees for non-commercial use. For commercial use, a fee of CHF 2.40 per signature is charged.

Swisscom Sign cannot yet be used in Microsoft Office or Google Docs. However, we are currently working on offering this service.

Swisscom Sign may be used for commercial purposes. A fee of CHF 2.40 per signature is charged. In the near future, Swisscom Sign will offer a customised service for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). For more complex or specific projects, Swisscom Trust Services offers services for Switzerland and Europe.

No, an identity card can also be used for onboarding.

No. Swisscom Sign is also available to non-customers of Swisscom.

 First steps

1. Technical requirements

  • A smartphone
  • The My Swisscom App
  • Successful identity verification with a valid identity document

2. Registration and identification

Before you can use Swisscom Sign, you must register for it once.

3. Sign document

  • Upload document to sign.swisscom.ch(opens in new tab) or via the My Swisscom app
  • Enter your contact details
  • Add your signature to the document
  • Pay for the signature for commercial use
  • Start the signing process by clicking on “Sign”
  • Scan the QR code shown (only in the web application)
  • Confirm the signature in the My Swisscom app
  • Now you can download the signed document

Before you can use Swisscom Sign, you must identify yourself once.

The document can be uploaded to sign.swisscom.ch(öffnet ein neues Fenster)(opens in new tab) or in the My Swisscom app 

Upload document to sign.swisscom.ch(opens in new tab)r in the My Swisscom app

  • Enter your contact details
  • Add your signature to the document
  • Pay for the signature
  • Start the signing process by clicking on “Sign”
  • Scan the QR code shown (only in the web application)
  • Confirm the signature in the My Swisscom app
  • Now you can download the signed document

You can invite someone to sign a document together with you.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Add the signature of the person who is to sign the document.
  2. In case of commercial use, pay for the additional signature.
  3. The invited person receives an email with the link to our website. Once there, they can scan the QR code with their smartphone and access the document.
  4. If the invited person is not yet registered, they must identify themselves once by means of their valid identity document.
  5. The invited person signs the document.
  6. You will receive an email confirming that the signing process has been completed and the document is ready for download.

If you are unable to identify yourself, there may be a number of reasons for this. Below you will find the most common errors made when registering:

  1. Make sure that your identity document is valid. Permitted documents are a passport or identity card. Driving licenses, foreigner's identity cards, etc. are not permitted. For other approved identity documents from third countries (outside Switzerland), please consult this list(opens in new tab).
  2. The photo of your identity document must be clearly legible. Make sure your fingers do not cover any information. Ensure optimal lighting and avoid glare from lighting on the identity document used.
  3. For reading the passport chip, place your smartphone flat on the passport and do not move the device after starting the reading process.
  4. When taking self-portraits, you should remove glasses and headgear.
  5. Make sure you have a stable internet connection.

Documents

You can invite someone to sign a document together with you.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Add the signature of the person who is to sign the document.
  2. In case of commercial use, pay for the additional signature.
  3. The invited person receives an email with the link to our website. Once there, they can scan the QR code with their smartphone and access the document.
  4. If the invited person is not yet registered, they must identify themselves once by means of their valid identity document.
  5. The invited person signs the document.
  6. You will receive an email confirming that the signing process has been completed and the document is ready for download.

To withdraw an invitation, you can click the "Finish Signing Process" button. This will interrupt the process so that signatures can no longer be added to the document.

If you have received an invitation to sign a document but do not want to sign it, you can simply ignore the email. There is no specific function for rejecting a signature invitation.

Click on the “Download” button. All signed documents are available for download for 30 days.

All documents are permanently deleted after a period of 30 days.

Your signed documents are automatically deleted upon completion of the signing process (i.e. after 30 days). Therefore, download the document beforehand to save it as you wish. If you have been invited to sign the document, you can download the signed document again within 30 days. To do so, please click on the link sent to you by email.

To see the status of a signing process, click on the link you received via email at the start of the signing process. Now look at the top right to see if all people have already signed.

Your signed documents are automatically deleted upon completion of the signing process (i.e. after 30 days). Therefore, download the document beforehand to save it as you wish.

Once you have sent an invitation to sign, it can no longer be edited afterwards. However, you can terminate the process prematurely so that no signatures can be provided.

No. Swisscom does not have access to the documents. The customer may download a copy up to 30 days after the signature has been added. After that, we delete the file permanently.

 Security

The documents are temporarily stored in encrypted form at MS Azure Switzerland (data storage in Switzerland) for 30 days and are available for download during this time. Thereafter, the documents are permanently deleted.

The channel for data transmission between the systems or to the client is always encrypted using SSL. For the transfer into or out of the data storage, the data is therefore encrypted twice; the data itself is encrypted for storage and the transmission channel is encrypted.

Only the contracting parties. The documents are stored in encrypted form for the signing process and are automatically and permanently deleted after 30 days.

  • In the case of registration with a biometric passport, the data from the machine-readable zone (MRZ) is cross-checked against the photo taken of the passport and the data from the NFC chip on the passport. A live check verifies whether the person is actually who they claim to be. This procedure is approved under the Swiss Signature Act and audited accordingly.
  • In the case of registration with an identity card, the data is checked manually by a person.

Release of the electronic signature is protected with a personal PIN code or with biometrics (via FaceID or TouchID). A signature can only be released with this second factor.

Swisscom Sign is fully FADP and GDPR compliant.

When the document is signed, a hash value of the document is also signed. This hash value is a checksum that can be calculated from the document. When checking the signature, this checksum is recalculated and compared with the signed one. If the document has been changed in the meantime, these checksums no longer match and the user would be informed accordingly that the document's content has changed.

On the federal government website below, you can upload a document and check, free of charge, whether the qualified electronic signature is valid. To do this, visit this site: https://www.validator.admin.ch(opens in new tab)

A scanned signature does not meet the requirements for a qualified electronic signature. So, if you sign a sheet of paper, scan it and use it digitally, it is not legally equivalent to your handwritten signature. This is because it can easily be forged or reproduced.