The Scene
Notary laws vary between states, creating a few common scenarios for notaries who maintain a journal of their notarial events:
They are required by law to journal
They are not required by law to journal, but consider it a "best practice" to journal
They are not required by law to journal, and choose not to journal on their own accord
Where does thumbprint collection come in to the picture?
Amongst the states that require a notary to keep a journal, there are varying requirements for what information they should collect. California requires thumbprint collection under certain circumstances (depending on the type of notarial event and documents being notarized), and many California notaries even consider it a "best practice" to capture the thumbprint for EVERY notarization they perform. There are also many notaries in states outside of California who consider thumbprint collection a "best practice" for their journals.
Thumbprint collection prior to 2020
In order to capture a signer's thumbprints in your journal prior to 2020, the notary needed to purchase ink pads specifically for this purpose and would instruct the signer to press firmly on the ink pad before pressing firmly in the notary journal. The number of thumbprints required for the journal would typically be dependent upon the number of documents being notarized (and subsequently the number of journal entries being made)
Drawbacks of ink thumbprint capture
The drawbacks of this process included;
Ink was often messy and required the notary to provide cleaning wipes or any other alternative solution to helping the signer clean their thumb after the print was collected
The process was redundant and often required the signer to provide multiple ink prints in the notary's journal
There was no solution for a notary who used an electronic journal. For example, even though California law allows for the use of either a tangible or an electronic journal, having no option to digitally capture thumbprints left notaries with very few options.
The push to reduce paper consumption, going digital
The notary industry has heavily relied upon paper since inception, and notaries have constantly been looking for ways to take parts of their business digital. The major advances in consumer technology that began in the 90's and 2000's paved the way for many other industries to go digital, but left the paper-reliant document notarization industry behind in many regards. Due to the complexities and legal nature of document notarization, the industry hasn't seen wide adoption of tools that could help a notary reduce their paper waste.
Big impact by looking at the small picture
While the majority of technology vendors and solutions focused their efforts on providing a completely electronic notarial environment for the notary and the signer (which comes with a mountain of legal & logistical complexities), Jurat inc was founded by California notaries in 2017 and focused on digitizing the second-most utilized tool in a notary's arsenal; their journal (we would argue that the notary's MOST utilized tool is their stamp/seal). The goal was to provide notaries with a digital journal solution that was easier to use, provided a safer environment for their signer's sensitive information, and addressed the lack of digital thumbprint solutions on the market.
The Notary eJournal by Jurat inc launches in late 2020
After 3 years of R&D and field testing, our solution was rolled out to the public and met with strong demand. The Notary eJournal has accomplished the goals outlined above by streamlining the journal process for the notary, providing the most secure digital environment for hosting their data, and developed technology that integrates a portable Bluetooth thumbprint scanner directly into the app, allowing notaries to capture a single digital print from a signer and apply it to all entries being created for that signer at that given time.
2023 and Beyond
Now trusted by notaries in over 40+ states across the US, the Notary eJournal has continued to provide notaries with the ideal digital notary journal experience, making our product the highest rated notary journal app in the nation. We have achieved the highest level of industry-standard data protection, confirmed by our ongoing dedication to achieving SOC compliance, and we have a strong community of user's who provide feedback & guidance as we continue to develop features and help notaries reduce their paper waste. Stay up-to-date with The Notary eJournal to see what we have in store!