How to Get a Qualified Electronic Signature With Multiple QES Providers in BoldSign
BoldSign Team 7 min read TL;DR: BoldSign now supports multiple providers for qualified electronic signatures (QES) alongside Evrotrust. Your admin turns them on by country in Business Profile, and each signer picks one at signing. That way, you can get a QES from signers in more countries. Senders still enable QES for each recipient, API requests stay the same, and pricing remains $3 per verification attempt.
You send a supplier agreement for a qualified electronic signature (QES). Your signers in Germany and France complete it with Evrotrust. Your signer in Romania is the exception: Evrotrust doesn’t serve Romania, so the agreement waits.
That’s the gap BoldSign now closes with multiple QES providers. Your admin can add certME or CertSIGN WebSign for Romania, and that signer completes the QES with one of them. You send the agreement the same way as before, and this time it gets fully signed.
In this post, you’ll learn what QES providers are and how multiple providers work. You’ll also see how to set them up by country and what signers see.
What are QES providers?
QES providers check a signer’s identity and issue the qualified certificate behind each QES. Only these providers can issue that certificate, under the EU rules on electronic identification and trust services (eIDAS).
A supervisory body approves each one, and every EU Member State publishes them in a trusted list.
Whichever provider a signer picks, they complete the same kind of signature: a QES. Article 3(12) of eIDAS defines it as an advanced signature based on a qualified certificate.
Why offer your signers more than one QES provider?
One QES provider cannot serve every signer. Each provider covers its own countries and identity methods, and a signer can sign only with a provider where they already have an identity.
With several providers, a signer in Estonia can use Smart-ID, and a signer in Switzerland can use Swisscom.
Your business may also accept qualified certificates from specific providers only. For example, a company in Berlin sends supplier agreements with QES to signers in Germany and France:
- Company policy: qualified certificates from Evrotrust and D-Trust sign-me.
- Document setup: the admin selects Germany and France in BoldSign, then enables Evrotrust and D-Trust sign-me for those countries.
- Signing experience: each signer selects the provider they already use and completes a QES.
How do BoldSign and QES providers work together?
Each party has one job, and the identity check stays with the provider:
| Party | What it does |
|---|---|
| Your organization | Chooses the countries and providers in Business Profile |
| BoldSign | Sends the document and shows the signer the country and provider choice |
| Signer | Picks a country and a provider on the signing page |
| QES provider | Checks the signer’s identity and issues the qualified certificate |
How do you get a qualified electronic signature from signers in more countries?
Enable more than one QES provider. In BoldSign, your admin turns on QES providers for each country your signers are in, and each signer picks one of them at signing.
With more providers to choose from, more of your signers can complete a QES. You keep sending QES documents as before.
How to set up signature providers in BoldSign
An admin chooses the QES providers once, under Signature providers in Business Profile. BoldSign then offers them on every new QES-enabled document sent from your account.
- Go to Settings > Business Profile and open the Settings tab.
- Make sure Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES) is on. Without the QES add-on, BoldSign first sends you to the Contact Us form to request it.
- Next to Signature providers, choose Configure.
- In Signature provider settings, choose the countries where your signers may be located.
- Under each country, select the providers to offer. Evrotrust is selected by default.
- Choose Enable, then Save changes on the Business Profile page.
Enable only the providers your signers need, so each signer finds their preferred signing provider quickly. The Signature providers setting carries a Beta label in BoldSign as of November 2026.
Which QES providers can you enable?
BoldSign offers 14 QES providers. Evrotrust is on by default, and the other 13 are ready to enable.
| Provider | Supported countries |
|---|---|
| Evrotrust (enabled by default) | 55 countries across Europe and beyond |
| Audkenni | Iceland |
| certME | Romania |
| CertSIGN WebSign | Romania |
| D-Trust sign-me | Germany and 50 other countries |
| Estonian Mobile-ID | Estonia |
| Halcom | Slovenia |
| HARICA | Greece |
| Latvian eParaksts Mobile | Latvia |
| Lithuanian Mobile-ID | Lithuania |
| LT ID | Lithuania |
| SimplySign | Poland |
| Smart-ID | Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania |
| Swisscom | Switzerland |
The QES help article lists every country Evrotrust and D-Trust sign-me serve. A signer still needs an existing identity with the provider they pick.
How does each signer select a QES provider?
Each signer selects a provider at signing, from the countries and providers your organization enabled. The signer picks their country first, then a provider available there.
What the signer sees
When the signer is ready to sign, BoldSign asks them to verify their identity. The signer chooses Continue.
Next, this window shows a Country list and the providers for that country. The signer picks a provider, then keeps the BoldSign page open.
Choosing Evrotrust sends the signer to the existing Evrotrust signing flow. With any other provider, the signer follows that provider’s instructions to verify and sign.
What the signer sees depends on your setup
How much choice the signer gets follows your setup:
- Several countries: The signer picks a country, then a provider.
- One country: The country is already shown, and the signer picks a provider.
- Evrotrust only, or providers never set up: The signer goes straight to the Evrotrust flow, and the window stays hidden.
Does sending a QES document or an API request change?
No. Senders turn on QES for a recipient as before, and API requests still set EnableQes on the signer.
An API request has no field for the provider. When the signer signs, they choose from the providers you enabled. To turn on QES for a signer, set EnableQes to true in that signer’s details:
{
"Name": "Emily Carter",
"EmailAddress": "emily@cubeflakes.com",
"SignerType": "Signer",
"EnableQes": true
}The full request, with six code samples, is in how to send QES-enabled documents with BoldSign’s API.
What stays the same: pricing, limits and signing order?
QES pricing and limits stay the same with the new providers. QES costs $3 per verification attempt, with any provider.
The rest of the QES rules in BoldSign also stay as they were:
- Plan: QES is an add-on from the Business plan, billed pay-as-you-go.
- Charges: BoldSign charges each attempt, successful or not, at the end of each billing cycle.
- Attempts: An admin sets 1 to 10 attempts per signer. Once a signer reaches the limit, BoldSign locks the document.
- File size: A document with QES on can be 30 megabytes (MB) at most.
- Signing order: With QES on, each signer needs their own signing order. Reviewers and group signers cannot use QES.
Prices are in USD as of November 2026, from the BoldSign QES page.
What will BoldSign not do with QES providers?
Restraint keeps the signature qualified: under eIDAS, only a qualified provider can issue the qualified certificate. So BoldSign leaves the identity check and the certificate to the provider.
Inside the signing flow, BoldSign:
- shows only the providers your organization enabled;
- does not create a provider account for the signer;
- does not store or manage qualified certificates.
Is a QES from these providers valid across the EU?
In most cases, yes: a QES based on a qualified certificate from an EU Member State is valid across the EU. Under eIDAS Article 25, it has the equivalent legal effect of a handwritten signature in all Member States.
Some providers may support signers outside the EU. The legal effect of a QES in those jurisdictions depends on local laws and regulations. Whether a document needs a QES at all depends on the law behind it, so check with your legal team.
You can download the audit trail for each signed document as a separate file. It records each signer’s QES verification, including the provider they used.
What does your team gain from multiple QES providers?
More of your signers can complete a qualified electronic signature, because each one can use a QES provider in their country. Your team keeps sending QES documents the same way.
Already sending QES with BoldSign? Ask your admin to enable multiple QES providers under Signature providers in Business Profile.
New to BoldSign? Start a free BoldSign trial to explore QES and the signature provider settings.
Book a BoldSign demo to see QES providers set up for your signers’ countries. You can also read how QES works on the BoldSign QES page.
Frequently asked questions
Does BoldSign support QES providers besides Evrotrust?
Yes. BoldSign now supports 14 QES providers. Evrotrust stays on by default and keeps its existing signing flow.
Which QES providers does BoldSign support?
BoldSign supports 14 QES providers. Evrotrust is on by default. The other 13 are ready to enable, including D-Trust sign-me, Smart-ID and Swisscom.
Can signers in other countries complete a QES in BoldSign?
Yes. Each QES provider serves its own countries, and Evrotrust alone serves 55. Your admin enables the providers for the countries your signers are in.
Does anything change for my current QES documents or API requests?
No. Evrotrust stays on by default, and the providers you enable apply to new QES-enabled documents. An API request still sets EnableQes to true on the signer, with no field for the provider.
Can I choose a different QES provider for each document?
No. Your admin sets the countries and providers for the whole account in Business Profile. Each signer then picks one of those providers when they sign.
What does a signer need before choosing a QES provider?
The signer needs an existing account or identity with that provider, such as a Smart-ID account, a Swisscom Mobile ID or a national electronic ID. BoldSign does not create provider accounts for signers.
Do the new QES providers cost more?
No. QES costs $3 per verification attempt with any provider, charged whether the attempt succeeds or fails. QES is an add-on from the Business plan, in USD as of November 2026.
Does a QES from any of these providers have the same legal effect?
In the EU, yes. Under eIDAS Article 25, a QES has the equivalent legal effect of a handwritten signature. A QES based on a qualified certificate issued in one Member State is recognised in all other Member States. Outside the EU, local law decides, so check with your legal team.
BoldSign Team
The official team behind BoldSign—the simple, secure eSignature solution trusted by businesses worldwide. Our platform helps individuals and teams create, sign, and manage documents effortlessly while maintaining full compliance. Experience BoldSign yourself with a free trial or request a personalized demo to see it in action.
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