The number of citizens who, at request, received electronic signatures from the Center for Information Technology in Finance in the first quarter of this year continued to rise. According to the Center, the number of holders of e-signatures increased by 6.5% compared with the corresponding period last year to over 4,800.

Specialists of the Center said the rising number of applicants for an electronic signature is due to the extension of the range of electronic public services and the people’s increasing confidence in the efficiency of these services, IPN reports.

The number of electronic signatures issued by the Center to private individuals and legal entities in January-March 2020 grew by 2.6% to over 5,600. The private individuals and legal entities that held an electronic signature issued by the Center on March 31 numbered over 28,700.

The business entities can use the electronic signature to sign contracts and documents from a distance, saving time and money, while the citizens can sign documents, applications and official declarations without going to the offices of public institutions.

On April 8, the Center for Information Technology in Finance extended the period of validity of the electronic signatures issued by it to two years. This way, the interested persons can ask to be issued with an electronic signature for a year or two, depending on necessities.

Those who want to obtain an electronic signature can fill out an electronic application on the institution’s website in the Online Applications section or can schedule an appointment on 022 822 222.

The Center’s specialists register the received applications based on the validation of the data of their signatories and request the public institution “Information Technology and Cyber Security Service”, which manages the Government’s Common Certification Center, to generate the public key certificate and then imprint this certificate on the device that creates the e-signature (stick eToken) and issue the applicant with the given certificate. The same procedure is applied in the case of renewal, suspension, restoration and cancellation of public key certificates. Each procedure lasts for at most five minutes.

Andrei Mînăscurtă, head of the Center for Information Technology in Finance’s Registrations Center, said the swiftness of the e-signature issuing procedure is mainly due to the efficient cooperation with the specialists of the Information Technology and Cyber Security Service. “This cooperation ensures the security, reliability and continuity of the provision of certification services,” stated Andrei Mînăscurtă, being quoted in a press release of the Center for Information Technology in Finance.

Further information about the procedure for obtaining an e-signature is available on 022 822 040.