New Data From Notarize and The Bridgespan Group Reveals Digital Notarizations Result in Meaningful Progress Towards ESG Goals for High-Touch Industries Real Estate, Auto and Financial Services

Elimination of greenhouse gas emissions from in-person notarizations would be equivalent to removing 800,000 cars from roads, each year

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New data from Notarize, the leading online notarization platform, and The Bridgespan Group, a global nonprofit advisory firm, examined the potential social return on investment and positive environmental impact of online notarizations. The findings reveal Notarize’s platform leads to material positive environmental impacts for notorious paper, car and shipping-dependent industries like real estate, financial services and automotive by reducing their dependencies on processes that produce greenhouse gas (GHG). By 2031, digitizing the entire notarization market across all industries is expected to reduce nearly four million metric tons of GHG emissions, or the equivalent of over 800,000 cars a year.

1.25 billion documents are notarized in the US each year, and prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, these notarizations overwhelmingly took place in-person. This process is both time-consuming and requires a remarkable number of resources – from signing stacks of 100+ sheets of paper, to overnight shipping and frequent car trips back and forth to meet in person and complete signatures.

“We have been diligently building the infrastructure needed to make remote online notarizations compliant, simple, and secure since 2015. We launched the company knowing we could expand access to notaries, while also evolving the legacy process to make it more delightful for customers. Years later, a global pandemic created a greater need for safety and convenience for transactions, and now online notarizations also have the ability to support pen-and-paper industries in their ESG goals,” said Pat ​​Kinsel, founder and CEO of Notarize. “The data tells us just how impactful this is — not only for consumers but also for waste prevention in these very traditional businesses.”

Key findings of the report found that transitioning to remote online notarizations leads to:

• A 10 percent decrease in printing on a per-notarization basis
• A reduction of 1.9 Kg of GHG emissions per-notarization in ecommerce transactions
• A reduction of 2.3 Kg of GHG emissions per-notarization in business transactions
• A staggering 9.8 Kg reduction of GHG emissions per-notarization for real-estate transactions
• Rural and suburban areas are on average 33.5 and 7.8 miles round trip, respectively, and the biggest contributor to GHG emissions per-notarization

More findings from the survey can be viewed here.

Methodology

In the pursuit of rigor, Bridgespan’s methodology bases all estimates and assumptions on the most rigorous research and evidence available. Bridgespan applied a discount to future projections for early-stage organizations, mirroring the risk adjustment that venture capital investors assume when they consider forward-looking projections; this means that despite Notarize’s track record of consistently hitting goals, Bridgespan applied a discount factor of 15 percent to all forward-looking projections. This risk rate also factors in the likelihood that the share of the US electrical grid supplied by renewables will continue to increase along the number of electric vehicles in use.

About Notarize

Notarize is the leader in online notarization, which is simpler, smarter and safer than notarizing documents on paper. From buying or selling a home, to adopting a child, Notarize is bringing trust online 24/7 for life’s most important moments. For more information, please visit notarize.com.