Intending to stay updated with the rising digitization, New York has officially allowed signatories to opt for online notary services. On February 1, 2023, NY finally joined the club with 43 other states to permanently implement this practice. To verify the identity of signatories, Remote Online Notary (RON) services use technologies that you can read about here, (https://onenotary.us/online-notary-new-york/).
To mitigate any chance of fraudulent impersonation, each signatory has to go through 2 or more verification steps (depending upon the state regulation). Read the write-up till the end to know how these steps work, or how the risk is mitigated.
How Does Remote Online Notary (RON) Work?
Remote Online Notary (RON) has made notary operations streamlined more than ever. In the case of an offline notary, you might have to travel for miles to get your document notarized. Because of that, certain sales/purchases or government tasks get delayed.
Luckily, that is not the case anymore. As a NY resident, you can simply get on a call on your mobile with a notary public, and get your stuff notarized with ease. Thanks to this service, both your concerns of speed and convenience are now solved.
!!! Do Not Worry !!!
If you’re wondering whether your NY notarized document is also eligible in other states, the answer is YES. Your document can be recognized in other states as well including North Kentucky, Carolina, Michigan, Minnesota, etc.
How Your Identity is Verified During the Remote Online Notary (RON) Process?
The overall process of identity verification goes through multiple stages. However, it also depends on the state you reside in. Speaking of New York, the state allows permanent RON. Therefore, it is much easier to get verified here than in any other state:
- Knowledge-Based Authentication: During this stage, you are assessed with some general questions. These questions generally include insights about your credit score, employment history, financials, etc. These questions are also known as Out-of-Wallet questions. The questionnaire is not preset and is asked randomly so that only an authentic person can answer it.
- ID Verification: This stage includes taking photos of your government-issued identity proofs and posting them online. With advanced machine learning techniques and artificial intelligence, they are then verified if they are authentic or not.
- Remote ID Presentation: At this final step, a notary public verifies your signatures and all the elements in real time. A session will be carried out through video conferencing, where you will be assessed one-on-one to verify your identity.
Did you know that, according to an article by CNBC, you can make around $200/hour by doing a side hustle as a notary public?
Are There Any Difficulties With the Remote Notarization Process?
Despite being so advanced and innovative, there are still some challenges that come along the way. Here are some of them listed below:
- Lack of Physical Interaction: Regardless of how modern and innovative this idea may seem, there still needs to be competence with the physical presence of both the signatory and the notary public. In the face of 1-to-1 online interaction, there is still some potential to fool the notary public.
- Security Infrastructure: Since RON deals directly with personal identity information, signatories’ privacy must be considered. Consequently, the security infrastructure of online service should be state-of-the-art and must gain signatories’ trust.
- Connectivity Issues: Since the whole procedure is carried out remotely, a minor hindrance in the network connection can cause inconvenience. Not only this, but issues with the mic or the camera on either side may also make you suffer.
These were some basic challenges that you might have to face when going for RON. However, these are some rare cases that do not happen that often. Ultimately, RON is still a convenient option if compared to traditional notary services.
Q ~ What is the average RON cost in NYC?
A ~ The price depends on different types of documents that are to be notarized as well as the service. Luckily, the authorities have put a price cap of $25 being the highest possible amount to be paid.
Final Words
The state of New York has officially announced the legalization of Remote Online Notary services in the year 2023. With this, you can get your document notarized online. This means that you do not have to travel for hours and be physically present in front of a notary public.
The entire process of RON consists of multiple stages that include Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBA), ID Verification, and Remote ID Presentation. However, despite being such an ingenious concept, RON comes with its challenges that you have to learn about in this write-up.