Notarial Banking Portal to Cancel Mortgage Online

In this article we analyse how cancellation through the notarial portal of the banking sector works, what advantages it offers both to individuals and financial institutions, and why it represents a step towards inclusive digitalisation, which strengthens the role of the Notary and guarantees the free exercise of rights such as the choice of Notary by the debtor.

The Notarial Banking Portal, operational since January 2025, is a technological platform driven by the Notarial Technology Centre, which allows financial institutions to manage a wide variety of notarial procedures remotely and centrally: payment letters, cancellations of mortgage guarantees, commercial policies and personal loans.

Its launch marks a milestone in the digital transformation of the Spanish notarial system, by integrating all notarial procedures between banks and the notariat into a single secure and corporate channel, with full legal guarantees and complete traceability of each operation.

This portal is born as a natural extension of the Citizen Notarial Portal, which had already proven its effectiveness by allowing citizens to access their deeds, request electronic copies or authorise acts via videoconference. The Notarial Banking Portal, however, goes one step further: it not only digitises communication between the institution and the notary’s office, but also allows many operations — such as the online cancellation of a mortgage — to be formalised even without any bank representative being physically present.

In this context, the system becomes a two-way tool, allowing banking institutions to register operations, provide the necessary documentation, monitor the processing status and receive automatic notifications of the progress of the file. All this without paper, without travel and without unnecessary costs.

But the most relevant aspect is that this new digital environment respects and guarantees the citizen’s right to freely choose the Notary who authorises the deed. This is required by the Compendium of Good Banking Practice Criteria, and this new channel ensures it, integrating the choice of notary within the telematic flow itself, either through the Citizen Notarial Portal or by direct appearance at the chosen notary’s office.

Therefore, we are talking about a system that combines:

• Operational efficiency for financial institutions.
• Agility and convenience for citizens.
• Legal security and complete control for the notariat.

All this in full compliance with the provisions of Law 11/2023, which allows the use of the electronic notarial protocol and notarial videoconferencing for certain legal acts, including mortgage cancellation.

This portal does not replace the notary, but rather strengthens them as an impartial guarantor in the new digital context, and consolidates the Spanish notariat as a benchmark in the secure digitalisation of complex legal procedures.

The Notarial Banking Portal not only represents a technological advance: it is a tool that offers concrete benefits both for financial institutions and for individuals.

It automates processes, guarantees legal security and, above all, returns to the citizen the leading role they deserve in the granting of a notarial deed.

Below, we highlight the main advantages that this system brings to each of the parties involved.

One of the great strengths of the portal is the elimination of paper and travel. Financial institutions no longer need to send physical documents or send representatives to sign cancellation deeds. The entire procedure is carried out electronically, from the registration of the operation to the notarial authorisation.

This entails:

• Reduction of errors and duplications, by standardising the submission of documentation.
• Complete traceability of the process, with a record of all movements on the platform.
• More agile and faster management, allowing in many cases the deed to be authorised within hours.

The system has dashboards that allow the institution to monitor the status of each operation in real time: whether it has been assigned to a Notary, whether the documents have been validated, if there are pending corrections or if the signing has already taken place. This level of control improves operational efficiency and allows for more precise planning of internal workloads.

Furthermore, integration through web services between banking platforms and the Notarial Electronic Headquarters guarantees stable, secure and continuous communication.

One of the most significant changes in the new mortgage cancellation system is that the client regains control of the process: they can freely choose the notary, without depending on the management office or the financial institution's proxy.

More and more banks — including Banco Santander — are incorporating this new procedure, granting notarial powers of attorney directly to the debtors or the owners of the mortgaged property, so that they can grant the cancellation deed before a notary themselves. This eliminates the need for the bank’s proxy to travel, which traditionally was the biggest obstacle to formalising the cancellation at a freely chosen notary’s office.

The signature by the debtor as proxy only requires that the bank has previously uploaded to the SIGNO platform the zero balance certificate and a simple note of the property. From there, the process is activated.

The client can start the procedure in two ways:

• Requesting the bank to upload the operation to SIGNO and designate the chosen Notary.
• Directly assigning the operation from the Citizen’s Notarial Portal, if it is already enabled.

Upon receiving the operation, the Notary accesses all the documentation and can choose, together with the client, whether the signing will be done in person or by videoconference, with the possibility to modify the date and method before the granting.

The entire file is unified in the system, with complete control of the processing status, traceability of each step and automatic communication to the financial institution after signing, even including an electronic copy.

This system is already being used normally in isolated cancellation operations and also prior to a sale, offering greater convenience and security for all parties. In these latter cases, it can even be started on the same day as the signing, attaching proof of debt payment. The Notary can also request additional documentation from the platform, if necessary.

In short, we are facing a more transparent, faster and more respectful procedure of consumer rights, which places technology at the service of freedom of choice and legal certainty.

Legal and technological context

The implementation of the Banking Notarial Portal has been made possible thanks to a robust technical infrastructure and an adequate legal framework, although the real change lies in the procedure and the willingness to uphold the client’s right to choose a notary.

From a technological point of view, the Notarial Banking Portal is fully integrated with the Notarial Electronic Headquarters through web services, allowing constant, secure, and bidirectional communication between the systems of financial institutions and the notarial infrastructure.

This technical design guarantees:

• The complete traceability of each transaction.
• The possibility to manage incidents quickly.
• The automatic updating of transaction statuses in real time.
• Direct consultation by the notary or the institution without the need for intermediaries.

The system architecture has been designed to meet the highest standards of interoperability and cybersecurity, allowing the incorporation of key elements into the process such as the qualified electronic signature, the use of the CSV for document verification, and secure digital custody.

In short, it is a robust, adaptable system fully aligned with the principles of secure digital transformation promoted by public authorities and the notarial profession itself.