One of the last big reasons to use paper in the office could be phased out soon, with document giant Adobe acquiring e-signature provider Echosign.

The deal will see Echosign’s fully digital electronic signature service offered on Adobe’s document exchange platform, meaning businesses will be able to receive, sign and return documents electronically rather than printing, signing and scanning the documents manually.

Echosign already supports about 3 million users worldwide. Jason Lemkin, Echosign CEO, says the deal with Adobe could make e-signatures ‘the common way for people to sign documents’.

"With nothing to download, learn or install,” Lemkin says, "there is simply no faster or more secure way for organisations to sign, track or file contracts.”