By law, a notary public must witness a person signing a document in order to perform a notarization. Traditionally, this means that the notary and the signer must meet in person. But this outdated method is quickly giving way to a new service known as remote online notarization.
A remote notary is a notary that is legally authorized to perform notarization remotely via the Internet. The notary witnesses the person (or persons) signing the document through an online video call. Each party signs the document using electronic notarization (also known as electronic notarization), which is basically the same as an electronic signature.
Which States Allow Online Notary?
In 2012, Virginia became the first state to approve remote notarization. Better yet, it empowered its notaries to serve a national audience, giving virtually all Americans access to online notary services. Today, four states (Virginia, Montana, Nevada, and Texas) allow remote online notary services. Another 32 states allow electronic notarization but not remote notarization, meaning the notary and signer meet in person but sign documents electronically, saving time.
Benefits of Using a Remote Notary
The two biggest advantages of using a remote online notary are cost and convenience. Operating online is cheaper than having an office, which allows remote notaries to pass on some of the savings to their clients. As for the convenience factor, who wouldn’t want to notarize a document online instead of going to a notary office?
Are Online Notaries Legitimate?
Many people ask if online notary services are legitimate. The answer is a very clear “yes”. It is true that notaries are authorized to perform notarization only within the framework of their state-defined jurisdiction. However, as this helpful blog post from the National Notary Association points out, a notary can notarize documents sent and/or registered across state lines, as long as the notary performs the notarization within his jurisdiction. In short, you don’t have to be in Virginia (or Montana, Nevada, or Texas) to get a document notarized in Virginia. The only thing that matters is that the notary is located in Virginia.
The Top 10 Online Notary Services
Now that we understand what remote online notarization is and know the difference between a remote notary and an e-notary, let’s take a look at our top 10 service providers. The top 4 providers on this list offer remote notarial services to individuals and businesses that need documents notarized. The following 4 are remote and electronic notarization platforms that provide services to notaries and notarial companies/firms. The latter two are industry groups that help connect people with remote notaries and electronic notaries.
Best Remote Notary Services
1. Notarize
Notarization is the oldest remote legal notarization service and has the best overall features. It serves almost everyone, from individuals to companies and title agents. It has the highest level of security, including sophisticated identity verification and an audit trail of every transaction. And it has a more flexible pricing structure, with a notary fee for individuals and monthly subscriptions and wholesale pricing for companies and title agencies.
2. NotaryCam
NotaryCam ranks as the second best online notary service due to its great features and global reach. Serves individuals and businesses with volume discounts offered for notarization of 10 or more documents per month. It uses bank-grade SSL and 256-bit AES encryption to protect your data. You can even notarize your documents if you’re abroad, which is great if you need a US notary when you’re outside of a US consulate.
3. SafeDocs
SafeDocs offers personal notarization to the general public, although it is best known for supporting the notarization requirements of large companies. From the company’s point of view, the process of legalizing a large number of documents can be very disruptive. SafeDocs has a solution for businesses through an API that allows documents to be automatically transferred to SafeDocs for notarization. It serves a variety of businesses, including banks, mortgage lenders and healthcare.
4. OnlineNotary.Net
OnlineNotary.Net is the best service for anyone who only cares about online notary fees. While the top three service providers on this list charge $25 for each individual notarization, OnlineNotary.net charges just $19.95. It also offers a monthly plan for businesses that includes a 25% discount on notarization. Please note that OnlineNotary.net certifies documents only for US residents and you must have a valid US residential address.
Best Remote and E-Notarization Platforms
5. DocVerify
DocVerify is a platform that allows commissioned notaries to perform remote notarizations or electronic notarizations. It does not provide electronic notarizations directly to the public. However, it offers a useful notary locator directory that allows the public to search for DocVerify notaries to provide remote and electronic notarization. This tool is free to use, although it requires an account.
6. Signix
eNotaryDoX by Signix is a secure remote electronic notary service for contracted notaries. With this platform, notaries can perform notarizations remotely, instead of in person. Signix security features include TotalAudit, a detailed log of the signing and notary process, and multi-factor authentication options (such as knowledge-based authentication) to positively confirm the identity of signers.
7. SignNow
SignNow is an e-signature solution for businesses that also allows your business clients to notarize documents remotely. With SignNow’s remote notary service, documents are instantly notarized and the authenticity is as legal as the signature applied to the document through SignNow. Please note that SignNow only offers its remote notary service to businesses that already subscribe to its e-signature platform.
8. DocuSign
If your organization performs notarial activities, DocuSign’s eNotary solution allows you to perform electronic notarizations by electronically signing documents. Please note that DocuSign only supports in-person electronic notarization services and does not allow your organization to perform remote notarization. DocuSign eNotary is available in more than a dozen states, including California, Texas, and New York.
Best Remote Notary and E-Notary Industry Groups
9. American Association of Notaries
The American Association of Notaries is a nonprofit association of notaries. Help connect notaries to the public with a free notary locator tool. This tool allows users to search for notaries by city and state, county and state, or name. Some of the notaries in the directory provide electronic and remote notarial services.
10. American Notary USA
American Notaries USA exists to connect notaries with people and organizations that need notaries. It has a free directory of notaries in the Americas, some of which offer electronic and remote notarial services. To access the directory, simply register for a free account and follow the instructions.