How did they helo you, I have worked with Coast 2 Coast
Agreed, I am also Fidelity Approved through a third party and have not see a difference in order volume.
@chasonpaper1 It normally happens when you accept an assignment that is through Fidelity. Once that happend you will be requirer you fill out some additional documents and you are done. When you have done this ad approve if you are using snapdocs uploaded it as other information.
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Some Title companies regularly use Fidelity and would like to have you on board as Fidelity approved when they have business with Fidelity. My problem with furnishing all of my information to Fidelity is that they state that they can pass your information on to third parties (and then do the unknown third parties also get to pass along your information to other third parties?). For this reason I do not want to be Fidelity approved. Too much floating of my personal information.
Fidelity will only accept the background check through the NNA or through Sterling in order to be an approved notary. If you want to go through Sterling, you need to be referred by either a signing service or title company. You cannot apply by yourself.
is it bancserve?? I tried to apply and they stated they want accept anymore notaries until November.
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I know this post is old but I received an assignment where I have to get Fidelity approval.
What will it give me? What does it do???
I just received a signing that required I be FNF approved. I am not, so I did not get the assignment. I do not know if NM does this since we are not RON yet.
This has nothing to do with RON or NM - it’s being approved by a title company (Fidelity) to close their loans In order to gain that status you need to be sponsored by a signing service (for which you’ll be approved to close only for that signing service) or by an escrow officer (which will get you Fidelity approved across the board for all companies).
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LindaH, 
Thank you so much for your rapid response!
Even if you are Fidelity approved. You are not allowed to mention it to the world that you are Fidelity approved. That is their policy. I had to delete, “Fidelity approved” from my profile in all portals.
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Yep…can’t include it in your advertising.
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Call Fidelity title or Chicago Title. They are the same company
I was approved this week by Bancserv and I’ve only been a nsa for a year, but a regularly notary for many years. Maybe because I’m rural. However when the list of their standard fees came up I was disappointed. Nothing even near $100. $65-85. Does anyone work thru them and are the fees negotiable? I never take so little, ever for anyone. The mileage would take away the profit.
That’s odd, I didn’t think Bancserv have gone low too. Wow, they all got on the bandwagon. 
You would think they pay more for rural. Interesting.
@Myshadowmax I know that you’re already cognizant that it makes no sense to provide services at a loss/in the red . . .
All a business owner can do is to create their own specific Schedule of Fees that will ensure your business will be profitable by covering all out-of-pocket & overhead expenses associated with the services you provide and also paying you for your efforts; i.e., time, knowledge, skills, expertise, etc.
Yes, I provide services for BancServ at my rates, which means that I don’t receive many Signing Orders from BancServ; however, it’s not worth receiving a lot of Signing Orders with negative fees that are going to result in a business owner going bankrupt.
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You may have already seen my note with details, but just in case, here it is:
It would be in your best interest to jot down all of the out-of-pocket & overhead expenses associated with performing the services you provide within your service region to determine a baseline operating cost. Then, at that point, you can calculate the fees that will generate a net profit to determine if you’ll have a Profit or sustain a Loss at that rate.
There are many items to consider within your Overhead calculations. Here are a few to get you started:
• telephone expenses including cell phone equipment and monthly service fees
• office equipment and furniture; i.e., work chair, work desk, reliable dual-tray printer, trustworthy scanner, etc.
• Notarial stamps for Jurats, Acknowledgements, Notarial Name, Commission Expiration, etc.
• rent and utilities
• paper
• toner
• binder clips
• pens (inexpensive for one-time use)
• stationery and supplies including stamps & envelopes
• travel costs to & from signer locations (i.e., create a generic by county list)
• travel costs to & from FedEx/UPS/USPS, etc. (i.e., choose your favorite location OR the closest that will provide you with a receipt)
• business insurance
• business-related meals and entertainment
• professional association memberships
• annual background checks
• annual certification expenses
• legal and accounting fees
• tax preparation fees
• advertising and marketing costs; i.e., Google ads, yellow pages ad, website, business cards, or brochure
• Protection equipment; i.e., COVID-19 masks, hand sanitizer, wipes, etc.
AND many more!
Your individual overhead would also include the cost of fringe benefits; i.e., medical insurance, disability insurance, retirement benefits. Also, remember to include quarterly income tax payment to federal & state (as appropriate) and self-employment taxes.
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If calculating all this accurately seems to be a bit overwhelming, reach out to your tax advisor and ask for guidance in this regard. 
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Also, there is an excellent specific cost breakdown by one business owner for services within her [ @anon78047977 ] region & for her overhead:
"Ok for a seasoned already in business Signing Agent (meaning no start up costs to factor in, just on going costs)
Average Refinance
- 150 pages (300 when having to print 2 copies)
- 35 miles average miles to signing/from signing/to FedEx drop
- Print cost average .15 per page (Laser printer, standard paper. Note this is also the cost at Staples, FedEx Office in the area BUT I have actually calculated my real costs by dividing the number of pages I get from a toner kit, my drum kit, cost of paper etc. but I use this average of .15 because there are Notaries around who actually use outside printing)
- IRS mileage .56 per mile (you can use actual costs of gas, insurance, plus maintenance costs. I will use the IRS rate because it’s a good average and I also have Tolls I have to pay which I will not add in this example. Also later I kind of use this amount as a “catch all” for other expenses. Again, I have determined my “actual” costs and the averages I use are pretty spot on.)
- 2.25 hours an average total time spent which includes, confirming appt & reviewing instructions, printing/prepping docs, travel time to/from/to FedEx, signing/notarizing docs, scan back
- Costs that people usually do not take into consideration because it’s part of their household BUT they are costs of running a business (home office expenses - internet, electric, computer, phone, supplies, etc.) Remember every business has similar expenses
So here we go…let’s look at average total for this signing:
$45 print costs
$19.60 mileage rate (So this number is based on IRS mileage rate. I use this number as a catch all to give me an estimate of my actual costs (gas, toll, %of annual maintenance, %of insurance and a % of home office costs, %of supplies, etc. Since I know my % for every business expenses, I already know this number is pretty close to my actual costs. For example my actual costs for this signing would be around $21)
It will cost me $64.60 for a 150 page refinance order. With no issues, no traffic, no reprints, no problems
If I took a $75 signing fee I would net $10.40
I would net roughly $4.62 per hour for a signing that took up 2.25 hours of my time.
$95 I would net $30.40 or $13.51 per hour
$125 I would net $60.40 or $26.84 per hour
$150 I would net $85.40 or $37.96 per hour
So when I advocate for SAs and fees I am not just coming up with number off the top of my head. I have done the math for myself personally."
SOURCE: Signing Agent Fee is Just Not a Notary Fee - #38 by notarybe
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VIP Notary- I haven’t gotten any assignments yet from them, as I was just approved this week. We will see how much they are willing to pay. Unfortunately, as we have read here, some new notaries are willing to take fees that actually makes them lose money (its possible they don’t realize that), and there are two in my area that take the $75-$85 signings, which I will not… Fortunately, there are a couple of services that call me directly and are willing to pay a decent amount when I negotiate.
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cNsa5-Thank you for the excellent summary of how one can lose money or make very little (less than at McDonalds).by taking the low fees. Perhaps the notaries that posted here that they are willing to take these fees will become enlightened. Its causing me to lose some of the signings I was getting last year before two new notaries here became active… Yes, we should not be in business to lose money. (duh!)
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I want to thank you for breaking this down. Now I have something to show those LSA’s who think they are making a profit by taking $75 signings. I, too, have broken down these costs and have learned that loan signings at the typical SS rate of $75 nets me a loss of about $150 or so depending on the size and complexity of the package. I no longer take loan signings through signing services.
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