(SEAL, Sec 3(g)) The following section tells us when electronic authentication may be used:

a) ELECTRONIC AUTHENTICATION OF DOCUMENTS, INFORMATION, AND IDENTITY-

(1) IN GENERAL- A financial institution may use electronic authentication in the conduct of its business if it has entered into an agreement regarding the use of electronic authentication with any counterparty, or if it has established a banking, financial, or transactional system using electronic authentication. (SEAL, Section 6f)

The Bill was invaluable since e-commerce was in its initial stages and progressing and with the banks ready and willing to use the internet for similar purposes, directives had to be put into place to not only protect consumers but to also ensure that here was a homogeneous system in place so that potential conflicts between the various banks that would imperil...

Absence of such a system would have brought anarchy to the world of online banking and from thence to general banking itself, as well as, quite likely, would have introduced countless related legal suits. The terms of the online banking activities, had, therefore, to be delineated and perimeters put into place for protection of both consumers and online banks and financial institutions.
References

ESIGN Laws Digital Signature And Electronic Authentication Law (SEAL) of 1998

http://www.isaacbowman.com/esign-laws-digital-signature-and-electronic-authentication-law-seal-of-1998

The Library of Congress Bill Text 105th Congress (1997-1998)

H.R.3472.IH

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z-c105:H.R.3472.IH:#