Other / verification

Out of all the eCommerce sales within the US, nearly 29% of them occur on mobile phones. Millennials are spearheading this trend, with 86% of them making online purchases through their cell phones. With this unprecedented amount of access to online products and services, it is becoming harder for age-restricted merchants to manage their products and services. Verifying a person’s age online is often quite difficult, especially since purchasing items has become as simple as providing genuine bank card details. ID verification solutions offer a crucial barrier for age-restricted commerce vendors to use against under-age customers. Regulation is increasing for companies to verify their customers before selling them age-restricted goods and services. Merely having a user provide a date of birth from their social profiles as a sort of verification isn't enough. Many underage individuals, especially resourceful teenagers, are ready to gain access to online gambling platforms or alcohol through these traditional methods of verification. it's critical to form a barrier to entry much higher for age-restricted goods and services because it can cause legal consequences, large fines, and a ruined reputation. How do ID Verification Solutions Help Age-Restricted Commerce In many countries around the world, legislation has passed where age verification is required for industries like online gaming, gambling, pharmaceuticals, tobacco & alcohol, and online dating apps. This is often also true within the US, where many states have implemented laws regulating age-restricted industries. Demand has increased for tactics to accurately verify user’s ages to suits these laws. Digital biometric identification solutions satisfy these needs. A company can verify its user’s ages by performing digital age verification. Digital biometric identification verifies a user’s age by scanning the date of birth from their government-issued IDs—passport, driver’s license, government-issued ID, etc. Many companies realize that they need to have digital identity verification services. They're worried about underage usage of their platforms and therefore the sale of restricted goods to minors. The following industries can benefit from ID verification solutions: Alcohol and Tobacco Both alcohol and tobacco are strictly regulated on a worldwide level. The FDA specifically prohibits the sale of cigarettes to minors. On top of this, the sale of alcohol is restricted within the US to individuals over the age of 21. For online retailers that sell alcohol and tobacco, having the ability to verify their customers accurately before a transaction is extremely important. Online Gaming Children, adolescents, and teenagers are all interested in online gaming. If played excessively, they will develop problematic habits. Plus, in many online games, children have access to players of any age from everywhere across the planet. Children can easily fall for scams, be taken advantage of, experience offensive language or maybe bullying from uninhibited gaming interactions. For these reasons, many gaming companies should consider adding an age barrier to their game to make sure that the players on their platforms meet the specified age to play. In the United States, online gambling is heavily regulated. A similar situation is true in other countries, like the United Kingdom. Studies have shown that as many as 50,000 children under the age of 17 have used online gambling and developed problems. By verifying user’s age before entry into a system, subsequently, gambling companies can help prevent children from being allowed to play. Platforms must do everything in their control to make sure that children remain out of their systems. Dating Services Online dating websites and apps are online services with very low barriers to entry. Both the minor and the adult users are in danger of underage use of dating apps. Underage dating is against the law in most places and may cause problems to the minor as well as the adult involved. Adults involved in such cases can face action that lasts their whole lives and minors can face a trauma from potential underage assault and other disturbing problems. Dating apps must do their part to verify their user base with robust identification services instead of just counting on social profile information. A variety of industries can enjoy online identity verification to access age-restricted goods and services. Online retailers should hold responsibility in regulating who can access their goods and services instead of counting on consumers to check themselves.