Qualified electronic signature (QES)

According to Article 14 para. 2bis of the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO), a qualified electronic signature is equivalent to a handwritten signature. What constitutes a QES is governed by the Federal Act on Electronic Signatures (ESigA; available in German, French and Italian).

The following providers currently offer electronic signature solutions (QES) in Switzerland

• Swisscom (Switzerland) Ltd:
  • Swisscom Sign
  • Signing Service – Swisscom Trust Services Ltd
  • Skribble – Legally binding electronic signatures
• QuoVadis Trustlink Switzerland Ltd:
  • DigiCert+QuoVadis | Switzerland (quovadisglobal.com)
• SwissSign AG:
  • Electronic signatures | SwissID Sign
• PrivaSphere AG:
  • PrivaSphere Sign & Send
• Federal Office of Information Technology, Systems and Telecommunication FOITT (explicitly for authorities only):
  • Swiss Government PKI (admin.ch)

The Swiss Accreditation Service (SAS) publishes a list of recognised certification service providers (CSPs).

Source: Electronic signature (QES) EasyGov.swiss

E-government at Innosuisse: electronic signatures

Electronic signatures can be checked for validity. This is possible with the «Validator» solution of the Swiss Federal Administration.

Update as of 11-30-2022: Auch die Post lässt qualifiziert und digital signieren

Update as of 10-13-2023: Swisscom lanciert Service für rechtsgültige digitale Signatur