Electronic signatures in Singapore

What the law says

Under section 8 of the Electronic Transactions Act 2010, where a rule of law requires a signature, an electronic record meets it if a method is used to identify the person and to indicate their intention in respect of the information in the record, and that method is either as reliable as appropriate for the purpose, in the light of all the circumstances including any relevant agreement, or proven in fact to have done those things.

The Act defines a signature broadly: a method, electronic or otherwise, used to identify a person and to indicate their intention in respect of the information in a record.

It also recognises a stronger form, the secure electronic signature: one that, through a specified security procedure or a commercially reasonable procedure the parties agree on, can be verified as unique to the signer, capable of identifying them, made under their sole control and linked to the record so that any change would invalidate it. Only a secure electronic signature carries the Act's presumptions that it is the signer's own and was affixed with the intention of signing. The specified procedure is a digital signature whose certificate can be trusted, for example because an accredited or recognised certification authority issued it.

IMDA, which administers the Act, says that almost all agreements used in typical business functions, including sales, procurement and sourcing, human resources, and finance and accounts, can be signed electronically.

The laws that apply

• Electronic Transactions Act 2010: section 8 (requirement for signature), the provisions on secure electronic signatures and their presumptions, and section 4 with the First Schedule (excluded matters).
• Electronic Transactions (Amendment) Act 2021: in force since 19 March 2021; took negotiable instruments, documents of title and bills of lading off the excluded list.
• Mental Capacity (Amendment) Act 2021: lets lasting powers of attorney be made electronically, outside the exclusion for powers of attorney.

Where an electronic signature is not enough

Under section 4 and the First Schedule, the Act's rules on writing and signatures do not apply to:

• The creation or execution of a will
• The creation, performance or enforcement of an indenture, a declaration of trust or a power of attorney (implied, constructive and resulting trusts, and lasting powers of attorney under the Mental Capacity Act, are outside this exclusion)
• Any contract for the sale or other disposition of immovable property, or any interest in such property
• The conveyance of immovable property, or the transfer of any interest in immovable property

A lease or tenancy is an interest in property, so a tenancy agreement may fall within the property exclusion. Ask a lawyer before relying on an electronic signature for one. Stamp duty applies either way: IRAS lists both physical and electronic lease and tenancy agreements as dutiable, to be stamped within 14 days of signing in Singapore, or 30 days if signed abroad.

What PQC Imza is, and what it is not

In Singapore, a PQC Imza signature is an electronic signature for the purposes of section 8: the signer is identified from the chip in their passport or ID card, and the signature records their intention to sign that exact file. It is not a secure electronic signature under the Act's specified security procedure, since no accredited or recognised certification authority issues a certificate for it, so the Act's presumptions for secure signatures do not apply to it.

PQC Imza is an electronic signature service. Each signature is made on the signer's phone with ML-DSA, the post-quantum signature standard NIST published in 2024 (FIPS 204), and is bound to the exact file that was signed. Signers verify their identity in the app by reading the chip in their passport or ID card, and every signature records how its signer was identified.

It is not a qualified, certified or government-accredited digital signature, and PQC Imza is not a licensed or accredited certification authority in any country. Where a law asks for that kind of signature, or for a handwritten signature, a notary or registration, use what the law asks for.