Notary Survey shows Significant Adoption of Remote Online Notarization by the Notary Community.

Remote Online Notarization (RON) has become a buzzword within the Notary community—and for good reason. This innovative method allows you to notarize documents online, anywhere, anytime, and in most cases, from any device.

To better understand this shift, we conducted a 2021 Notary Survey of professionals across the US. We wanted to find out who they are, how they are navigating the growing pains of new technology, and what is truly holding some back from going digital.

Survey Demographics: Who is the Modern Notary?

Our survey revealed that the Notary community is diverse, with respondents falling into three primary professional groups:

  • In-house Notaries (48%): Those working within an organization or company.

  • Self-Employed (36%): Independent mobile notaries and entrepreneurs.

  • Signing Agency Notaries (13%): Those specifically contracted through agencies.

Experience & Location: Overall, 55% of respondents have two or more years of experience. Interestingly, while the most responses came from Texas and Florida (where RON is established), a high volume also came from California, a state that—at the time of the survey—had not yet approved RON for its own commissioned notaries.

How Notaries Find New Business

Modern notaries are diversifying their marketing efforts:

  • Friends and Family: 22%

  • Google, Facebook, and Word of Mouth: 20% each

  • Title Companies: 16%

  • Online Directories: 8%

Group Insights: Trends and Challenges

1. The Self-Employed Notary: The Struggle for Margin

For the self-employed, the shift to digital is often a question of economics. While 63% are already RON certified, many struggle with profitability due to software costs and state-regulated fee caps.

Key Insights for Independent Notaries

  • Top Industries: Finance (67%) and Real Estate (58%) remain the dominant sectors.

  • The Demand Gap: Despite high enthusiasm, only 24% of self-employed notaries feel they have enough customer demand for RON sessions.

  • Barriers to Entry: The primary obstacles are the cost of RON software and a lack of “tech-savvy” clients.

2. The In-House Notary: Focused on Workflow Efficiency

In-house notaries represent our largest group of respondents. Unlike their self-employed counterparts, 74% are satisfied with their work volume, with over half performing more than 50 notarizations per month.

Challenges for Corporate Notaries

  • Internal Hurdles: Many in-house notaries face difficulty getting company-wide approval to move away from traditional paper processes.

  • Technology Friction: 58% are RON certified, but many find current platforms “laborious” to set up for co-worker signatures.

  • The Upside: The main benefits cited were the elimination of travel costs and the increased safety of contactless transactions.

3. Signing Agencies: The RON Power Users

Signing agencies are the most advanced group in the digital space. An impressive 92% are RON qualified, and they handle a much higher volume of B2B transactions with mortgage lenders and title companies.

What Agencies Value in RON

  • Digital Storage: 89% appreciate the ability to store documents digitally.

  • Efficiency: 83% cite “less paperwork” as a top benefit.

  • Frustrations: Their main concerns are not technology itself, but rather finding new customers (35%) and keeping up with rapidly changing state regulations.

What Does This Mean for the Future?

The results show that while the industry is still in the initial stages of adoption, the outlook is overwhelmingly positive. Whether it’s expanding geographic reach or providing better identity theft protection through robust ID checks, the benefits of RON are becoming impossible to ignore.

“Learning new technology can be a barrier,” says Mike Eyal, CEO of Secured Signing. “This is an area our team is constantly working on—we’ve launched a new RON certification process and regular free training to help educate both the notary and the customer.”