Nowadays, minors can easily access age-restricted services in the digital space. Simple age verification checks used by businesses are easily tricked by minors to buy drugs or avail of any other adult-oriented service. Businesses need to implement effective age verification measures to prevent minors from gaining access to alcohol, weapons, and adult content. It helps in delivering age-restricted services to a legitimate audience and conforming to the KYC regulations.
What is Online Age Verification?
Online age verification is the process used to verify the end user’s age by screening identity documents to authenticate whether the age details provided are true or not. It prevents minors from consuming age-restricted services. Online businesses need to verify the age of their customer before authorizing their access to their services.
The online age verification mechanism helps in delivering the right product to a suitable audience. It helps in reducing underage access to unapproved transactions resulting in chargebacks from parents. Online age verification prevents such activities while facilitating adults to access services or products provided for them and restricting minors.
Online Age Verification Method
Online age verification solution helps businesses to onboard authentic end-users for login and transaction verification while protecting minors against identity thefts. The online age verification process consists of four steps given below:
- End-user provides his name and date of birth details through a system-generated online form.
- The end-user uploads the image of his identity documents (ID card, passport, or driving license) and submits it for verification.
- Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology extracts name and date of birth details while performing authenticity checks on the document.
Importance of Age Verification for Businesses
Major reasons why businesses need to adopt age verification solutions are given below:
KYC/AML Compliance
KYC and AML compliance is an important reason for businesses to verify customer’s age. Regulatory bodies have made age-verification mandatory for businesses. Failure to comply with regulatory compliance results in imposing costly fines and legal penalties. Regulatory compliance helps businesses to maintain a good reputation and brand image.
Threats of Fake identities
Children use their parent’s Identity cards to purchase products online. In such a situation, if online businesses do not implement adequate identity verification measures they might lose their reputation and face legal penalties.
Another risk is that online businesses are facing the threats of stolen identities. Criminals use the identities of other people to avail free services and benefits associated with them. These services include pension and old age funds for needy people. Fraudsters use fake identities to gain access to these services illegally.
Corporate Social Responsibility
It includes activities and operations of a business that are not associated with monetary gain but with building a credible market reputation and brand image among customers. Online merchants selling age-restricted products must use age verification for the betterment of the customers.
Statistics show that every year 95,000 people die due to alcohol consumption in the US. Alcohol-selling drug stores can play a vital role in the prevention of deaths by adopting adequate age verification measures. It will help in gaining notability as a regulatory compliant and socially responsible business.
Businesses That Need Age Verification
Children use their parent’s identity documents to buy drugs and alcohol easily. Businesses are utilizing age verification services for regulatory compliance, social responsibility, and preventing the use of fake identities. It is important for following businesses to verify the age of their consumers.
Online Gambling And Gaming Platforms
Online Gambling and gaming service providers are under the stringent supervision of regulatory bodies. According to the regulatory requirements, It is compulsory to perform detailed KYC checks on the gamers before onboarding them. It prevents addiction among minors and restricts them from gaining access to sites that are not appropriate for their age. With the help of age verification, businesses can minimize the risk of non-compliance penalties and onboard legitimate customers while keeping minors away.
Online Lottery Websites
Criminals use stolen identities to access online lottery platforms. They use this platform to clean their black money. If online lottery platforms fail to verify the age of their customers before onboarding them then criminals will launder black money through their platform. Online lottery platforms have to face penalties for KYC/AML non-compliance and underage selling. Age verification fulfills KYC/AML regulatory requirements and prevents reputational damage.
