IBA Compliance Connection

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We would like all of our account opening documents and other paperwork on our teller line to be signed with an electronic pad so that paper copies do not need to be printed. For documents requiring notarized signatures, we would have a notary witness a customer sign with an electronic pad then sign their name using an electronic pad. The notary’s information also would be entered electronically. Is the notary’s seal required? If so, can it be affixed electronically?

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Notaries commissioned to perform notarial acts in Illinois must affix their seal to their signature, and this cannot be done electronically. Further, we believe that when your customer’s signature is being notarized, both your customer and the notary must sign on paper using ink.

The Illinois Notary Public Act requires notaries to affix their “rubber stamp seal clearly and legibly using black ink” whenever they perform a notarial act, such as witnessing or attesting a signature. Consequently, we do not believe your bank can avoid printing a document that requires a notarized signature.

Additionally, we contacted the Illinois Secretary of State’s Department of Index, Notary Division, and were advised that because Illinois does not authorize electronic notarization, the person signing the document and the notary notarizing the signature each must sign their name on paper using ink.

Although the federal E-SIGN Act permits notaries to sign documents electronically, it requires that “all other information required to be included by other applicable statute, regulation, or rule of law, is attached to or logically associated with the [electronic] signature or record.” Consequently, because Illinois law still requires notaries to use rubber stamps and black ink, and based on the guidance from the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office, we do not believe that notarized documents and notarial certificates can have electronic signatures in Illinois.

However, we note that the Illinois Legislature has commissioned a task force to review and report on best practices and verification standards to implement electronic notarization in Illinois. As a result, the Illinois Notary Public Act may be amended in the future to accommodate electronic or paperless notarization.

For resources related to our guidance, please see:

  • Illinois Notary Public Act, 5 ILCS 312/6-103(c) (“At the time of a notarial act, a notary public shall officially sign every notary certificate and affix the rubber stamp seal clearly and legibly using black ink, so that it is capable of photographic reproduction. The illegibility of any of the information required under this Section does not affect the validity of a transaction.”)
  • E-SIGN Act, 15 USC 7001(g) (“Notarization and acknowledgment. If a statute, regulation, or other rule of law requires a signature or record relating to a transaction in or affecting interstate or foreign commerce to be notarized, acknowledged, verified, or made under oath, that requirement is satisfied if the electronic signature of the person authorized to perform those acts, together with all other information required to be included by other applicable statute, regulation, or rule of law, is attached to or logically associated with the signature or record.”)
  • Illinois Notary Public Act, 5 ILCS 312/1-105(c) (“There is created a Notarization Task Force on Best Practices and Verification Standards to Implement Electronic Notarization to review and report on national standards for best practices in relation to electronic notarization, including security concerns and fraud prevention. The goal of the Task Force is to investigate and provide recommendations on national and State initiatives to implement electronic notarization in such a manner that increases the availability to notary public services, protects consumers, and maintains the integrity of the notarization seal and signature.”)