Remote Online Notarization Vs. Remote Ink-Signed Notarization (RON vs. RIN)

Know the Difference

To celebrate the new partnership of Adobe Sign and Notarize, we thought it would be prudent to explain the difference between remote online notarization and remote ink-signed notarization. Don’t let the similarity of the acronyms fool you, they are very different! Here’s what you need to know about using RON, RIN, and how to decide the best solution for your business and customers.

Efficient and Secure‍

Remote online notarization is a fully digital and online experience that mimics the traditional notarial act. A signer shows up before a notary on a video call, and together, they complete, sign, and authorize the document. Every video meeting is recorded and held alongside an audit trail of the exchange.

The completion of Additional security measures, including knowledge-based authentication (KBA) questions and credential analysis of government-issued ID is required before a signer can connect with a notary. These features help strengthen the notarial act.

Whether it be online or in person — remote ink-signed notarization lacks almost all the benefits of a notarization. The notary serves more like a witness than an agent of trust.

In a RIN transaction, signers connect with a notary through any third party audio-video platform – Skype, Zoom, Google Hangouts – to sign and notarize paper documents from a separate location. These platforms have been having some trouble of their own which only emphasizes their lack of security.

What's more, in spite of the fact that notaries are asked to record and retain the notary session, that’s really all they’re responsible for. The signer’s ID is held up to the webcam, but never closely scrutinized or validated; there is no audit trail; and neither the notary nor the signer ever interact with the same document at the same time.

Maintain Control of Your Original Documents

That last point is of utmost importance. Signers in a RIN transaction are asked to physically mail their signed documents to have them notarized, which occurs at a later date and outside of their signing session with the notary.

Since the documents are wet-signed and then delivered by mail, there’s no way to prove the documents that the notary receives are the documents they watched the signer complete. And if the signer tries to save time by faxing or emailing their signed paper documents to the notary, the document that is notarized isn’t actually the original – it’s a copy of the original.

In RON transactions, original documents are stored, signed, notarized, and delivered digitally.

There’s no concern about the integrity or the originality of documents because RON retains all the important elements of an in-person notarization – it’s just online.

The Choice is Simple

We believe that you are better positioned to serve your communities with RON as a permanent solution. More than half of all states have passed laws allowing their notaries to tap into the online notarization marketplace. Most states now allow signers to close online using a remote notary, while hybrid closings can occur in all 50 states.

Will you be ready when the market changes or a pandemic pushes your business completely online?