How The E-Notary Industry Evolved During The COVID-19 Pandemic

E-Notary

How The E-Notary Industry Evolved During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Vanessa Terry

August 31, 2022

How The E-Notary Industry Evolved During The COVID-19 Pandemic

Remote online notarization has been evident for over a decade, and it’s needless to say that the start was slow. People had their reservations about using visual-audio technology rather than in-person meetings, but notaries across the country began pushing for more legislation to allow for RON. In simpler words, RON was still an untapped area, but then the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020 and everything changed.

With the pandemic, the local, state, and federal health agencies released warnings associated with face-to-face contact, with which the state officials identified that RON could play a significant role in protecting the signers and notaries from COVID-19 exposure. For this reason, every state in the U.S., except forSouth Carolina and California had implicated temporary or permanent regulations permitting the remote online notarization. California now has pending legislation to allow for RON in 2023.

Acceptances Towards Remote Online Notarization

The number of people accepting remote notarizations was previously limited, which meant thatRON couldn’t replace the conventional paper-based notarizations. However, in2020, it created opportunities for signers and notaries. In 2020, twenty states set the permanent implementation laws for RON, and it is important to add that no other notary policy in the U.S. has created such results so rapidly.However, even with such spiking growth, the notary community was divided on the matter.

This is because, before the pandemic, only 32.5% of notary agencies supported RON, but after the pandemic, the number spiked to 44.4%. According to the respondents, they felt safer with RON but also, they realized how much more time efficient it has proven to be. With the growing E-Notary technology companies launching, industry mortgage leaders converting to RON and more of your general businesses requesting it, RON is no longer a question of will it last. It is now a matter of “when” rather than “if.” The most surprising factor is that when the world comes back to normal, RON is likely to remain the first choice for notarial acts.

Is It A New Opportunity For Notaries?

With more states accepting RON and legalizing it, it’s a moment of wondering for notaries if they should start offering RON. However, it is important to consider various factors, such as sizing up the demand for these services and cost to provide services.

The National Notary Association stated that they witnessed a 374% increase in the annual RON transactions from the year 2019 to 2020, and steadily rising. The second factor to consider is the competition because it’s always better to enter the market during the early stages, when the demand is high or moderate. Having said that, now is the perfect time to jump in, if you are an interested notary!