Use Cases Of Age Verification And What Do the Regulations Mandate?

In the digital space, minors are easily getting access to age-restricted products which is a big problem. However, they are not permitted to enter adult-based stores or tobacco shops. As per Javelin Research Group, over one million under aged fell prey to identity fraud which led to a loss of $2.6 billion. As customers are shifting to cashless payments means, this number is foreseen to increase. 

To back businesses, a swift digital age verification solution is in line. This largely adds to identity verification and as per regulations, it is a must. For instance, the United Kingdom Gambling Commission issued KYC guidelines. As per these, businesses need to verify the age, name, and address of the customers. Furthermore, similar regulations are set for the rest of the businesses. 

Companies Liable for Online Age Verification

• Alcohol Vendors
• Online Gaming Platforms
• E-commerce and digital platforms with age-restricted products
• Tobacco sellers
• Pharmacies
• Drug sellers 

Companies Liable for Online Age Verification

There is no business that can escape or avoid age verification. Firstly, it is mandatory. Secondly, it is crucial for the reliability of businesses. Thirdly, it is necessary for restricting minors and onboard legit customers. Businesses that are answerable for age verification are:

1. E-commerce and Digital Platforms 

Governments from around the globe are documenting strategies to protect minors from harmful and age-restricted platforms and products. Therefore, to legalize this, the UK government has put forth the digital Economy Act 2017. As per this, the online platforms are mandated to verify the age of their customers along with their identities. 

1. Alcohol Industry

High consumption of alcohol is proven to be the death cause of the majority of minors. The legit age for alcohol consumption is 18 years. However, minors use fake ages and their parent’s documents to order alcohol online. Also, they somehow escape the age checks, guard perform at the entrances. Therefore, the 21st amendment has come up with a resolution – every state can make its desired laws for the sales and distribution of alcohol. However, the legal age stays the same. 

1. Tobacco Selling Companies

Tobacco is another attraction for minors. They try to get access to products in this way or that way. To minimize the effects, the US has passed the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. This mandates age verification for selling pipe tobacco, hookah, cigars, e-liquids, and cigarettes. This is so firstly to comply with Know Your Customer’s Customer (KYCC) and secondly to restrict the minors. 

Similarly, Scotland has almost forced an age limit of 18 years. As per the Nicotine Vapour Products Law, businesses should require under-aged customers to show their age proof. The companies then verify the identity and age of the customers with the data on original documents. 

1. Gambling Industry

As per the Gambling Act of 2005, businesses are not allowed to onboard minors as players. This law is applicable to every gaming industry like lotteries, gambling, and others. Therefore, businesses should place age checks during registration to avoid fraud and exploitation of minors. 

The online sites are obliged to verify age, name, and proof of address for the new coming players as well as for the existing ones. This way they can restrict and deport the players under the required age. Customers under 18 can not play casinos or other monetary games. Minors are sharp and sophisticated, they provide fake credentials, however, platforms can combat this by verifying their identities and age especially in real-time. 

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How Digital Age Verification Works for Businesses

As previously discussed, it can be seen that businesses have to follow the regulations to avoid hefty penalties and complete shutdowns. Therefore, they should carry out age verification to identify if a minor is trying to onboard or order something.  The age limit in the majority of the states is 18, however, some have 20. To identify the age, platforms can carry out identity card scanning with real-time face verification. Age verification online can help businesses speed up the process and ensure compliance in the following steps:

1. The customer is required to enter the data like age, date of birth and later upload the scanned documents to verify age. These include passports, govt-issues ID cards, driver’s licenses, and any other identity document.
2. The system then extracts the data through OCR and checks the format, forgery, or alterations if any. Moving on, it matches previously added data with information on documents. 
3. After the verification completes, the results are displayed in from of the customer first and stored in the back office later afterward. The online age verification solution is less-time taking, reliable, and seamless. It makes all these steps easy and quick. Hence businesses can verify age in minutes.