The Top 3 Reasons to Use Electronic Notarizations Now

By Pem Guerry

Many highly regulated industries such as financial services and real estate have adopted electronic workflows because of the protection and convenience that the technology offers.

But for documents that need that extra (literal) stamp of approval of a notarization, a cog is thrown into that digital wheel. The process loses its clean, automated, end-to-end digital path and must, once more, wind up back on paper. Instead of the hassle of faxing or shipping documents, however, you have to actually print out the papers and meet someone face to face to finish the transaction.

Unless, that is, remote e-notarizations enter the picture.

With remote e-notarizations, digital signature technology is used to sign documents securely. Video conferencing allows notaries to witness signatures from all parties involved, and then they use e-notary technology to notarize documents electronically.

Here are the top three reasons to begin using remote e-notarizations in your business practice:

1. Cost Savings

E-notarizations are generally more cost effective than the paper, ink and physical rubber stamp alternative. Plus, companies and clients no longer have to drive across town to have a document notarized, which allows for more time to focus on core business work.

Because the traditional notarization process is converted to a digital one, documents, signatures and notarizations are kept in an electronic workflow. A notary can perform e-notarizations with a video conferencing program, which she likely already has for remote business meetings.

2. Security

Electronically signed and notarized transactions are actually more secure in a number of ways than manually notarized transactions. E-notarizations use digital signature technology, which permanently embeds the legal evidence in each document and prevents any unauthorized changes to be made. This tamper-evident capability immediately detects any changes that are made to a document after each signature has occurred—reducing the risk of fraud. The technology also uses comprehensive audit trails to track and record every part of the signing and notarization process. This means that if the transaction or document is ever legally challenged, the authenticity of the signature and the notary process can be easily proven. And with identity authentication tools, such as knowledge-based authentication, you can ensure that only authorized users have access to the document.

When notarizations are performed on sensitive and/or high-value transactions, this level of security protects all parties involved.

3. Safety and Convenience

Perhaps one of the greatest benefits of remote e-notarization is the convenience for customers. With the traditional notarization process, at least one party must travel to meet another party in order to sign the document and have it notarized in person. It’s possible this could require signers or notaries to drive to unfamiliar neighborhoods and to meet with people they’ve never met before.

Electronic notarizations allow notarizations to happen from anywhere with an Internet connection—at home, in the office or bustling around town. And it could happen outside of office hours—even in your pajamas.

Nearly every manual process can be improved when transformed into a secure, electronic workflow—and notarization is no exception. With electronic notarizations, notaries and customers can ensure a transaction is legal and authentic, but in a faster, safer and more convenient manner.

Pem Guerry is the Executive Vice President at SIGNiX, an Independent E-Signature™ solutions provider that makes signing documents online safe, secure and legal for any business. SIGNiX offers an independently verifiable cloud-based digital signature solution, which combines workflow convenience with superior security. Learn more about what makes SIGNiX different at www.signix.com.