Because minors can use fake IDs, the business runs the risk of developing a bad image as a business that is careless with security and the community’s youth. Additionally, the age verification system enables businesses that provide products and services with age restrictions to adhere to the law and protect minors.
Online dating services, ride-sharing services, online gambling, and alcohol delivery services are just a few examples of businesses that use age verification to adhere to regulations and preserve their brands. This protects against liability and fraud by ensuring that only authorized users or customers are accessing age-gated content.
What is Online Age Verification?
Online age verification is a tool to prevent users and audiences from accessing digital services and information that isn’t suitable for their age. Retailers providing age-restricted goods are obligated to provide their services to customers who are at least the legal age. It gives minor users a safe and secure way to participate in online businesses while maintaining regulatory compliance.
How Does the Age Verification System Work?
Age verification is done in various ways, depending on the website. However, these are the most common things that are needed to verify age:
- Submit your birthdate. Through a system-provided form, the user should input information like their name and birthdate.
- Upload a file: The user sends a photo of an identification document for verification, such as a passport, driver’s license, or government-issued ID card.
- Identity credential extraction—the age verification solution performs document authenticity checks and extracts the pertinent information, including the date of birth and name, using OCR.
- Results of Verification and Dispatching: The safe age verification process is complete after the accuracy of the data and the originality of the documents have been confirmed. The end-user is then validated or rejected based on the established age verification threshold.
Other than this, another way to verify that the user is of legal age is by using three-factor authentication. The three authentication factors are:
- Something you know (a password, PIN, etc.)
- Something you have (a SIM card, a security key, a smartphone with an authentication app)
- Something you are (fingerprint scan, face recognition, voice recognition)
For three-factor authentication to be effective and grant access to an account, a user must successfully verify each of these three authentication factors. a very secure way to log in, register, or finish a transaction over the internet or through a mobile device. Knowledge-based authentication is the most common form of security, so it is important to verify through other means.
Putting measures in place to increase security, build confidence, and lessen the likelihood of identity theft is crucial since there are also people out there who make a livelihood off of fraud, identity theft, and stolen passwords. Hence, this identity verification solution can be helpful, especially when it’s related to business identification.
When Is Age Verification Used?
Age verification can be used in any business to deliver age-oriented services to the proper audience. However, there are business verification services that highlight the importance of age verification systems, such as:
- Online gaming
Despite having millions of users of all ages, a lot of business verification faces several difficulties. It is important to offer age-restricted games to the proper audience since they may negatively affect minors.
Online games such as poker are considered to be forms of gambling. E-betting and gambling are quite popular due to their allure and potential for quick money. Unfortunately, many minors use these sites to toss cards to win a wager.
- R-rated sites
R-rated video sites are those with mature themes, graphic violence, and coarse language. Only some types of materials are given this kind of grade because playing them with minors might corrupt them. Age verification is more necessary than ever because these sites include mature content.
- Online shops for alcohol and vape
Online age verification on these sites is now more crucial than ever because minors may now purchase alcohol and vapes using their parents’ credit cards. The biggest challenge to industry laws and regulations comes from unlicensed sellers who offer these without any age restriction. Lack of age verification procedures results in underage consumers using adult-exclusive products and services.
Why is Age Verification for Businesses Important?
Choosing not to invest in age verification software might cost your company charges in non-compliance fines and a damaged brand image. Minors run the danger of being exposed to unsuitable information since the absence of age verification online procedures strongly correlates with easy access to services and content that is limited to people of a certain age.
The usage of age-restricted goods and services is controlled by an age verifier linked to a platform or application, which eventually saves the company money by reducing chargeback expenses.
Online firms can lessen friendly fraud that results in chargebacks from parents against their children’s non-consenting transactions. Online age verification offers a comprehensive solution that saves businesses a ton of money and is far better than self-verification, manual age checks by people, and checkboxes to confirm age on websites.
Who can give you a solution for Age Verification?
Nowadays, practically all internet businesses are required by law to do Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks on their clients. A trustworthy identity verification software and an age verification solution are both necessary for those purposes. Hence, there are identity verification companies that help us protect our business.
With the help of online age verification, businesses in a variety of sectors, such as online gaming, e-commerce, and alcohol, can quickly onboard new consumers.
These websites enable businesses with age-restricted products to utilize their services securely by providing a small degree of protection in light of global regulations. It will inevitably speed up the onboarding procedure and guarantee that your platform is being used by users of legal age.
Avoiding a Lack of Age Restriction for Security
The business is in charge of ensuring that only customers of legal purchasing age purchase things. Any uncertainty should stop the transaction from happening. This also extends to other businesses that have more mature content.
The Digital Policy Alliance has created a PAS (publicly accessible specification), which has been published. PAS 1296: Age verification online. Offering and utilizing online age verification services. The Code of Practice is intended to assist traders in adhering to the law, particularly those who do age checks or offer age check services.
