What can an e-notary do?
An e-notary does more or less what a regular notary does. The difference is that the e-notary has an electonic journal and electronic notary seal and notarizes electronic documents. Some might even have an electronic girlfriend too! So, the biggest matter of confusion is that people don’t understand that the signer has to appear before the e-notary. It is unclear if personal appearance will always be necessary in the future though. At one point, we read that Arizona e-notaries could notarize without personal appearance of the signer, but now they require it and the evidence of the old rule is gone!
The basic procedure for mobile e-notaries
So, basically, a mobile e-notary will go to a signer’s house, the signer will login to a website, sign some electronic documents, the notary will login and apply his/her e-seal, and have the signer sign the e-journal, and that is that. You will have to visit face to face with the signer just like now.
Will our lives change?
It looks like we might have to lug around digital signature pads in about 20 years when this technology gets popular. When you go to the supermarket, you are doing digital signatures right now, so you are already used to it! It looks like our lives will not be altered in any significant ways.
You might also like:
The pros and cons of eNotarizations
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=3672
12 points on e-notarizations
http://blog.123notary.com/?p=228
Thank you for this service for Notaries!! You have a great web service for Notaries!!
Comment by Connie Kuest — August 23, 2013 @ 4:56 am
Yes interesting I have been considering esignings.
Comment by Jackie Brown — February 9, 2019 @ 4:19 pm
I am planning to add an electronic notary commission to my notary capabilities this year. Virginia has some specific stipulations for doing electronic notarizations. The commission is a separate from the regular notary. The electronic notary commission enables the notary to go beyond the e-notary work and do remote notarizations where the signer can be in a different location and not physically in the presence of the notary. They are already vetted by the government for their identification before they appear before the notary and the transaction is done via Skype or another secure video connection. The notarization is recorded by the notary who is required to keep a video record record of the transaction on a designated secure computer. As mentioned in the article, the notary needs an electronic signature, electronic stamp, and electronic journal. There is some cost involved setting all of this up. The good news the fee does as well. Standard fee in Virginia is $5.00 per notarization. The electronic notary fee is $25.00 per notarization.
Comment by Richard Parker, cpNotary Service, LLC — February 9, 2019 @ 6:02 pm