Notaries, postal service launch online joint venture

Brazil's association of notaries, Anoreg, has invested 4mn reais (US$1.3mn) to launch an online notary service in partnership with the country's postal service, Empresa Brasileira de Correios, and local bank Bradesco, executives told an online press conference Thursday. Customers will file a request for a notary document - from births and marriages to property rights - through the web site (www.cartorio24horas.com.br), which is delivered by the post office to the nearest notary office, and which will post documents back to the customer. Customers will be able to monitor progress online, and the total time for certificate to be delivered is estimated to be between 4 and 9 days. Bradesco is providing financial support for the venture, allowing offline or online payments for services. Although customers will have to pay extra for the postal and financial services, the savings on transport and time spent at real world notaries will make the service attractive, Anoreg Sao Paulo president Ary Jose de Lima said. The nation-wide online service will be an estimated 50% cheaper than traditional notary services, and up to 150% cheaper for customers using intermediaries to retrieve certificates offline, Anoreg national president Rogerio Bacellar said. The service will be launched in Sao Paulo state on November 10, where about 70% of the state's notaries have signed up for the service, and Anoreg is working to sign up the rest, Lima said. The service will then be extended to Parana, and most Brazilian states should be covered by emd-2004. Anoreg represents some 20,000 notaries across the country. The system does not offer a full electronic transaction yet because Brazilian legislation does not allow documents to be transmitted electronically, Lima said. The partners do expect to add in digital signatures in due course. The company expects to handle about 3 million certificates in the first year of service, rising to 14 million certificates from 2006, equivalent to about 20% of certificates issued by notaries today. For potential customers without Internet access at home to use the service, Correios is installing PCs in its branches, and expects to have 4,200 installed by the end of 2004, he said.