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The Standards and Procedures for Electronic Records and Signatures ("SPeRS") project
is an eCommerce initiative sponsored by the Electronic Financial Services Council
("EFSC"). SPeRS creates voluntary, industry wide guidelines for the electronic
execution of signatures, record retention, printing, delivery, and presentation of
information. The development of such guidelines will permit businesses to establish a
common understanding with vendors concerning design specifications, provide the
customer with a "common experience" across various online transactions and establish
industry practice for enforceable structures and processes under the recently enacted
federal ESIGN law and the various state adoptions of UETA. As a result, customers and
service providers should experience a greater level of comfort in the use of electronic
documents and implementation of such technology. Finally, the existence of widely used
standards would provide courts with a reference point in determining if particular
practices related to e-signatures and e-records are "commercially reasonable."
The Drafting Committee Meeting worked over a year and a half to create SPeRS. Participants
included Adobe, AIG, Dell Financial Services, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, GE Capital
Mortgage Corporation, Harland Financial, Intuit Inc., MassMutual Financial Group,
Mortgage Guarantee Insurance Corporation, PricewaterhouseCoopers, TIAA-CREF,
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Zions Bancorporation/Digital Signature Trust, as well
as the following trade associations: American Bankers Association, ACLI, MBA/MISMO,
and the Software and Information Industry Association.
Initially released in September 2003, SPeRS consists of five areas:
- Authentication
- ESIGN Consent
- Signature
- Agreements, Disclosures and Notices
- Record Retention
Although SPeRS has published its initial volume, SPeRS is seeking additional
participants to build upon its future innovations. Your company need not be a member of the EFSC in
order to join the SPeRS Drafting Committee.
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