Digital Mortgages: Streamline the Approval and Signing of Financial Transactions

Buying a home is one of the moments most eagerly anticipated by many young people and adults. It signifies that financial efforts have paid off and that a very important personal goal has been achieved. However, to reach the final step—signing the deed—one must navigate a path that can be fraught with obstacles, primarily in the form of slow, travel-intensive bureaucracy.

In a sector as crucial as finance, every day counts and can mean the difference between securing that long-awaited home or not. That’s why the digitization of financial transactions has become essential. Integrating electronic signatures streamlines the approval and processing of digital mortgages, reducing the timeline from weeks to days or even hours and eliminating the friction associated with paper-based procedures.

Electronic Signatures and the Notarial Portal in Digital Mortgage Management

Although electronic signatures streamline much of the digital mortgage process, not all steps can be completed 100% remotely, and it’s important to know which procedures can indeed be handled using this tool:

What is the Banking Notarial Portal, and what role does it play?

The Notarial Banking Portal is the channel that enables financial institutions and notaries to conduct procedures and exchange documentation electronically. Thanks to this platform and Law 11/2023 of May 8 (Law on the Digitization of Notarial and Registry Procedures), it is possible to automate operational processes without the need for in-person visits or physical documents.

Mortgage Discharge

A clear example of digitization is the discharge of mortgage loans. Through the Notarial Banking Portal, banks can manage and formalize the letter of payment and the mortgage discharge via video conference. This allows the process to be completed 100% online without the customer or the bank’s representatives having to physically visit the notary’s office.

Signing the Deed

On the other hand, when it comes to signing mortgages, we must distinguish between several aspects. First, it is important to note that the signing of the deed itself—that is, the signing of a new mortgage loan—currently requires an in-person appearance before a notary in accordance with the aforementioned law.

Signing Pre-Mortgage Documentation

However, throughout the process, there are other stages where we can indeed use electronic and digital signatures. We’re talking, for example, about sending and signing documentation prior to the formalization of the mortgage. This phase is the foundation of the process; without it, the mortgage could not be signed in any way.

However, it does involve certain drawbacks you should keep in mind:

• Administrative burden and time consumption: Gathering employment history, income tax returns, property title abstracts, and bank statements requires a considerable amount of administrative effort, especially if you’re dealing with multiple institutions at the same time.
• Expiration of documents already submitted: Banks require up-to-date information, with most documents valid for 30 to 90 days. If it takes you too long to gather the rest of the documentation, it’s very likely that some documents will expire along the way, and you’ll have to start the process over.
• Risk of losing the earnest money and the property: This is directly linked to the previous point. If securing the loan takes longer than expected and you exceed the granted deadline, you will likely lose the money you paid as a down payment, and the seller’s commitment to you will be canceled.
• Expiration of the appraisal: The official appraisal of a home is legally valid for 6 months. Once this period has elapsed, you’ll have to pay for an updated appraisal or a completely new one.

For these reasons, the best option for clients and financial institutions is to use digital electronic signature solutions that streamline a process as important and eagerly anticipated as buying a home.

P.S.: Beyond the documentation, any negotiations and the selection of a notary can also be handled online.

Direct Benefits for Customers and Financial Institutions

After reading the previous sections, you may be wondering: What are the advantages of implementing electronic signatures? What benefits will I gain? Both customers and financial institutions reap direct and tangible benefits closely tied to operational efficiency and customer convenience:

• No need to travel: Thanks to Viafirma’s digital solutions, it is no longer necessary to go to the bank in person to sign or submit documents, which saves customers a considerable amount of time and increases efficiency for financial institutions.
• Processing times reduced from weeks to days or hours: Procedures that used to take several weeks can now be completed in just a few hours or resolved in a matter of days.
• Maximum legal validity: The digital signature systems used have the same legal validity as a handwritten signature.
  Acceleration of the sales cycle: Collecting digital signatures speeds up the risk approval process and reduces the typical transaction abandonment rate.

Key Considerations: Security and Regulatory Compliance in 2026

Although the implementation of electronic signature solutions opens up a wide range of possibilities for financial institutions’ customers, we must not overlook certain aspects.

Increase in Financial Cyberattacks

In 2026, attempts by cybercriminals to manipulate and deceive the public will be commonplace. Last year alone, nearly half a million cybercrimes were reported in 2025—a 5.3% increase from the previous year—according to the Ministry of the Interior (La Razón).

In order to obtain confidential information from documents, they have refined the techniques they use. Some of the most common are:

• Emails that pretend to be an official change of address from the bank
• Fraudulent text messages that appear in the same conversation as legitimate messages from the bank
• Requests for fake updates to the banking app

Viafirma Streamlines Financial Transaction Management

Financial institutions are already reducing processing times, ensuring the legal security required for documents, and offering their customers a much more convenient and seamless user experience thanks to Viafirma.

We develop digital electronic signature solutions tailored to the banking sector’s rigorous regulatory standards. We have extensive experience helping financial institutions such as Motor Crédito, banks, and financial service providers accelerate the sales cycle and eliminate red tape in the mortgage process.

Do you want your customers to enjoy a more convenient and seamless experience when conducting transactions with your bank? Electronic signatures open the door to a world of possibilities. Contact our sales team today and discover how integrating electronic signatures into your processes can make your institution much more efficient.