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ID Verification for Remote Online Notarization

May 22 2020 | By: AZ Roving Notary

When the notary is located at a computer in her office, and the signer is located on a computer in his office, how does the notary verify the ID if they are not in the same location?

ID Verification is a two part process made up of:

1.  Knowledge Based Authentication (KBA)

2.  Credential Analysis and Facial Recognition

States who have adopted Remote Online Notarization have mandated that identify be confirmed using this two part process.  The Arizona Attorney General has approved the rules for Remote Online Notarization which were filed with the Secretary of State's office on March 19, 2020 at 4:02pm.  The rules on ID Verification are found in R2-12-1305. Standards for Identity Verification.

     Section A:  Lays out the Process
     Section B:  Credential Analysis/Facial Recognition
     Section C:  Knowlege Based Authentication
     Section D:  Satisfactory Evidence of Identity

(I have included the above information for general knowledge.  For explanations or more specific information, refer to an attorney knowledgeable in these laws).

Four Easy Steps to ID Verification

The Knowledge Based Authentication Process

The State of Arizona mandates that an approved and authorized third party Knowledge Based Authentication and database service company is required for ID Verification. AZ Roving Notary is currently using Lexis/Nexis as the third provider of the Knowledge Based Authentication (KBA)service. This could be subject to change based on technological and financial considerations for our client base. 

The notary never sees the private data, the questions asked of the signer or the responses to the quiz.  The notary only receives the results as passed or failed.

If the Signer fails for any reason, the notarization process comes to an end and the signer must look to another process to have the documents notarized. (Usually we can provide a mobile notary if the signer is located in Arizona).

How can you increase your chances for success for the KBA process? All of the following questions must be answered positively.  And, you should gather the information required in advance of your remote notarization appointment.

1.  Are you a citizen of the United States?
2.  Do you have a valid social security number?
3.  Do you have a valid Driver's License or State ID?
4.  Do you have a valid US Credit History of at Least 5 years?
5.  Do you have a US Mobile Telephone Number?

Interesting fact:  As long as you are a US citizen and pass the ID authentication (and the credential analysis/facial recognition) you can be located anywhere in the world.  The notary is located in Maricopa County, Arizona, so be sure that if you are preparing an acknowledgment that the proper state and county information is added to the acknowledgement. 

Note:  Every signer who requires notarization of their signature must pass the KBA process.  If you are using a credible witness as your identification, then they too must pass the KBA process.

This is not a difficult process. But, if you do have questions, our staff of commissioned remote online notaries are here to help you understand and navigate the process.

Credential Analysis and Facial Recognition

The State of Arizona mandates that credentials be authenticated and that real time facial recognition be used to match the signer to the credential.  At this time, our online notarization provider only accepts valid unexpired US driver's licenses or state ID's. (Passports are not accepted at this time by DocVerify).  

How does this work exactly?

In the email that is initially sent to the signer - a link to credential verification is included.

1. Signer takes a picture of the front of the driver's license.

2. Signer takes a picture of the back of the driver's license.

3. Signer uploads the pictures of the driver's license front and back to the authentication portal.

4. Signer uses the webcam or his cell phone to snap a real time picture of their face.

5. Signer uploads the image to the authentication portal.

The authentication and facial recognition process begins and the signer either passes or fails. Here are some helpful notes to make the process smoother:

1.  We have found that sometimes a jpg image works better than a pdf for the driver's license even though you are allowed to use a jpg, png or pdf file.

2.  You may need to turn the flash off on your telephone to get a better image of your driver's license.

3.  You may need to have better lighting for the picture of your face.

Hopefully, at this point you have passed the process.  if not, you will have to schedule a mobile notary to come to your location as we cannot proceed with the notarization process unless you have passed.

Note:  Every signer who requires notarization of their signature must pass credential analysis and facial recognition. If you are using a credible witness as the identifier of the signer, then that credible witness must pass this as well.

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