Summary: CA comparison for banks, insurance companies, public authorities and other regulated organisations in the DACH region

Technically, all CAs meet the requirements for certificate products – the strategic differentiation lies in company location, data sovereignty and local support.

Why European CAs for regulated DACH organisations?

✓ Data sovereignty: Data stored in Switzerland or EU

✓ Reputation protection: Customer and citizen expectations regarding European data sovereignty

SwissSign unique selling points

✓ Only fully Swiss CA

✓ Swiss neutrality: lower risk of business outages due to geopolitical conflicts

✓ ZertES-qualified CA for Swiss authorities and financial companies

✓ Entrepreneurial flexibility with public backing (Swiss Post)

Strategic implication: Your choice of CA defines your digital sovereignty, compliance positioning and risk exposure for the coming years – it is not purely a technical decision, but a strategic one.

Market positioning and industry focus of certificate authorities

DigiCert and Sectigo position themselves as global market leaders serving virtually every size of business, from SMEs to large corporations. If you take into account their sub-brands (for DigiCert, these include QuoVadis, GeoTrust, Thawte and RapidSSL; for Sectigo, these include Entrust Public Certificates, acquired in 2025, and the Comodo certificates acquired earlier), the product range becomes even broader. GMO by GlobalSign pursues a similar global strategy with a focus on enterprise and mid-market customers.

In contrast, D-Trust and SwissSign focus specifically on organisations in regulated industries. D-Trust focuses primarily on the German market (finance, public sector, healthcare, retail and industry), while SwissSign focuses on the DACH region with an emphasis on financial services, the public sector, healthcare, and pharmaceutical and chemical companies.

Both D-Trust and SwissSign have significant references in the financial and public sectors, while global providers also have financial references but publish fewer specific public sector references in the DACH region.

There are clear differences when it comes to company headquarters and data residence

With the exception of SwissSign and D-Trust, all CAs have their headquarters outside Europe (in the USA or Japan).

As part of the Federal Printing Office, D-Trust is directly linked to a German federal authority and mainly pursues "sovereign" tasks to secure the national infrastructure.

Like D-Trust, SwissSign also has a certain degree of public backing, although SwissSign was founded 25 years ago as a private company and only became a wholly owned subsidiary of Swiss Post in 2021. Swiss Post itself is owned by the Swiss Confederation. SwissSign is therefore structurally and culturally entrepreneurial and can respond flexibly to market and customer needs.

DigiCert and D-Trust offer special EU data locations, while SwissSign is the only provider headquartered in Switzerland that also operates its entire infrastructure for its certificates in Switzerland – a decisive factor for organisations that have to meet strict data sovereignty requirements, because we live in a world where geopolitical conflicts are on the rise and traditional alliances, such as those between Europe and the US, are beginning to dissolve. As soon as the US sanctions certain industries, organisations or individuals, US organisations discontinue their services to these entities, and this also applies to technology companies – as in the case of the International Criminal Court. Switzerland's traditional neutrality and international acceptance, on the other hand, offer European companies significant advantages in terms of their global reputation and business continuity.

For Swiss organisations, there is an additional factor: Switzerland is not a member of the EU but participates in many European regulatory standards and is considered a "safe third country" in matters of privacy. SwissSign operates a proper office in Vienna and acts as an EU Qualified Trust Service Provider. SwissSign thus offers a balance between European compliance compatibility and Swiss independence – without the sovereignty complexities of American or Asian providers.

Automation, APIs and post-quantum cryptography (PQC) readiness

All CAs offer comprehensive automation options: they all have full-featured REST APIs, support common protocols (CMC, ACME), and offer certificate lifecycle management solutions.

When it comes to post-quantum cryptography (PQC), DigiCert and Sectigo already have ongoing pilot programmes to prepare for quantum-secure cryptography, while GlobalSign and D-Trust do not provide any public information on this. SwissSign plans to launch a PQC pilot programme in 2026 – relevant for organisations that want to align their long-term security strategy with the post-quantum era today.

Certificate lifecycle management solutions are available from all providers, but differ in their depth of integration, user-friendliness and the automation scenarios they support. In view of the imminent drastic reduction in certificate lifetimes to 47 days by 2029, robust CLM automation is becoming a critical success factor.

Support quality and local presence in the DACH region

Local native-language support in German and French, as well as English, is available in full from SwissSign. D-Trust focuses on German and English, while the larger international providers offer support in many different languages. DigiCert (Munich, St. Gallen), D-Trust (Berlin) and SwissSign (Zurich and Lausanne) have a physical presence in the DACH region. GlobalSign and Sectigo do not have offices in Germany, Austria or Switzerland.

Price comparison and total cost of ownership

Public list prices vary considerably, depending on the type of certificate and pricing model of the CA. In practice, however, all providers offer significant discounts based on total volume, contract terms or additional services purchased, meaning that list prices are hardly comparable and individual negotiations determine the actual price. When evaluating, regulated organisations should not only consider the unit price of individual certificates, but also the total cost of ownership, including implementation costs, integration costs, lifecycle management and support quality.

Decision-making: Which certificate authority for which requirements?

From a technical perspective, all of the CAs compared here offer the necessary certificates and automation options – the trend towards commoditisation in the public PKI sector continues. Price differences also depend heavily on your individual negotiating skills and the weight of your organisation. As a general rule, changing your CA can often result in a better TCO.

The most obvious and strategically relevant distinguishing criteria remain the company's location, local proximity to customers, and data and compliance considerations.

For regulated organisations in the DACH region, choosing a European provider is therefore an obvious choice, as:

• data sovereignty is a priority due to the high level of regulation in their industries, reputation considerations and the expectations of their customers and citizens

• they are looking for a CA partner with specific expertise in their industry and country

SwissSign scores particularly well with:

• Support in German, French and English

• ZertES compliance for Swiss business

• Full focus on certificates, innovation and flexibility thanks to entrepreneurial DNA – with public backing

Choosing the right certificate authority is not purely a technical decision, but a strategic one that will define your digital sovereignty, compliance positioning and risk exposure for years to come.

About this comparison

This comparison is based on publicly available data, our own market experience and direct information from the providers compared. If you notice any errors or omissions, please send your feedback to [email protected].

There are many other CAs active on the market; we have focused on those that are relevant to financial services, insurance, healthcare, pharmaceuticals/chemicals, retail and the public sector in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

This comparison does not constitute legal advice. Consult your legal department for specific compliance questions regarding eIDAS, ZertES, DORA, NIS2 or other regulatory requirements.

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