Digital Notes Q&A Webinar

last updated on Friday, June 26, 2026 in Member Services

Our collateral team answers common questions about pledging Digital Notes during our live Q&A webinar held on June 24, 2026. View recording below. 

This webinar features:

• Brief overview of Digital Notes and the pledging process
• Answers to common member questions
• Questions submitted live during the webinar

Speakers:
Vonda Renfrow, Collateral Management Director
Jake Daniels, Collateral Manager

Learn more about Digital Notes and access additional resources in the Collateral section of our website.

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Digital Notes Questions and Answers

• Who are compliant eVault vendors that meet your requirements?

  Our staff has frequent conversations with various eVault vendors that can act as a Securities Intermediary. One vendor we have worked closely with is Wolters Kluwer, who has customers who are also our members. We have tested end-to-end and have members that are pledging Digital Notes today who are Wolters Kluwer clients. We are also in active conversations with SnapDocs, Doc Magic and nCino.

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• Do you have a list of approved vendors for the role of Digital Custodian serving as a Securities Intermediary?

  We do not have a list published. It is important for members to complete their own vendor due diligence with their preferred vendors. FHLB Des Moines has defined the requirements for a Securities Intermediary, and as long as the vendor meets those requirements, they can become an approved vendor. We recommend members reach out to their current technology providers and ask if they can meet the FHLB Des Moines requirements.

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• Are there any members who are live today and pledging Digital Notes?

  Yes, we have a member actively pledging Digital Notes and other members who have completed the onboarding process and are ready to pledge. Our teams receive daily inquiries from members interested in getting started.

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• How long does it typically take once you sign up to complete the process?

  Can you give us a rough timeline of how many weeks it takes from start to finish to be up and running?

  It is fairly quick to integrate with FHLB Des Moines as we have built our systems and processes to be ready when the members are ready.

  Ultimately it will vary based on what relationships members already have in place with their technology vendors. If you already have a vendor and other relationships in place, it is usually estimated around a month to six weeks.

  Other factors that impact timeline include your vendor management process and how long it takes to complete the due diligence around the vendors. Also, if your teams are able to focus on this one project, it will move more quickly.

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• Can existing digitally signed notes we already have on our books be pledged as collateral?

  Our requirements and guidelines state that it would be from the time you execute the tri-party agreement going forward. If you feel that you have existing notes that truly meet our requirements and have been stored in a securities account, then FHLB Des Moines could take a look at those on a one-off basis.

  A key role of the securities account is to have one true original copy. As soon as the loan is signed, it goes into the account, and we have a full audit trail of that digital note's life from the moment it was signed up until the present. We know every single event that has occurred with that note. A lot of the notes that may be on existing servers outside of a Securities Intermediary may not have the full audit trail. This is the reason behind requiring new originations moving forward.

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• Can Digital Notes be modified after origination?

  Yes. Our requirements state that members de-pledge the note during the modification process to keep the whole loan packet together, keeping the modification associated with the original note. To simplify the process, members remove the note from pledging, execute the modification, bundle the documents back together and move the asset to the pledge securities account to be pledged again.

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• Do all loan docs need to be e-signed, or can you have some e-signed and other wet-signed?

  Best practice would be to have all documents signed and stored electronically. If people are signing electronically, then you have built the technology platform to be able to do that, and they are going to want to sign everything electronically. It'll be easier for the borrower and for you.

  There could possibly be an instance where you might have a wet signature within that packet, and that would be if the recording jurisdiction did not accept e-recording. 

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• We will use an open-end feature on our mortgages and reference them on a new note. Therefore, the initial signing of the mortgage would/could be wet ink but we may want to make use of the e-signed note. Could that be pledged?

  If it is a new note, it can be a digital note. If the original mortgage was signed with wet-ink, you would want to keep a copy of the recorded mortgage in the digital loan file.

  If you are currently originating paper, wet-ink notes, and you are doing some fully digitally or electronically, that is acceptable. You can continue to pledge both. We will differentiate between wet-ink signed and digitally-signed notes to allow for better reporting, which you will break out on your pledge based on how it was signed using the different type codes. We would expect members to pledge both wet-ink and digital for a very long time because some of your notes might be 30-year notes.

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• For multifamily and commercial properties, can you expand on when an eNote would be required versus a Digital Note?

  The eNote is for residential, and the Digital Note is for the other asset classes. The eNote falls under a different UCC and is a transferable record, whereas the other asset classes would be considered financial assets under UCC Article 8. eNotes would be 1-4 family first mortgage term loans or amortizing home equity loans. Everything else would fall under Digital Notes - commercial real estate, agriculture real estate, multifamily real estate and home equity lines of credit.

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• Is it possible to obtain a copy of the Tri-Party Agreement to review prior to execution?

  Yes. Please reach out to our Collateral Operations team to receive a copy.

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• Define modification: Interest rate, payment change, additional funds on a commercial loan?
  Yes. All of the above. If you change the terms with a refinance and give that loan a new number, then you would want to pledge it as a new Digital Note. Open in new page
• Please walk through the process of pulling the digital note out, then repledging. We do a lot of change in terms so trying to understand the steps and timing when pledging quarterly.

  When a modification is necessary, simply move the note from the pledge securities account back to the origination securities account. Execute the modification and work with the Securities Intermediary to make sure the modification is bundled with the original note before it is moved back to the pledge securities account.

  A Borrowing Base Certificate (BBC) can be resubmitted anytime during that calendar quarter. You may contact the Collateral Operations team to discuss timing.

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• If this is for real estate, how can the complete package be signed electronically? The deed requires a wet signature.

  Internal policy may be inconsistent with applicable law. Check your state laws and local recording jurisdictions.

  Remote online notary (RON) or in-person electronic notary (IPEN) might be applicable alternatives to wet-signatures. If it is a document that's recorded, the recorded copy can become an artifact in the loan file. Best practice would be for the loan to stay in the origination securities account until the recorded copy is available.

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• When you audit the member (Member Collateral Review), how would this digital portion be reviewed?

  Any Digital Note in the pledge securities account can be viewed remotely by our staff.

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TAGS

1. Collateral
2. Credit and Collateral