After digitization, minors’ access to online age-oriented services and products has become commonplace. As per the survey by Statista, around 1.46 billion customers bought online products from various platforms. In the previous decade, customers massive adopted digital cashless means. This phenomenon was triggered by the pandemic and it has become a new normal in the industry. Despite all these fancy attractions, the industries have gone more prone to risks. These include data breaches, minors exploitation, monetary frauds, and many more.
Digital age verification services are the industry’s go-to solutions to deliver the right services and products to consumers. However, manual verification was providing equal assistance but they took long periods and customers were not impressed. Therefore, online age validation services provide less time taking and accurate assistance. They restrict minors’ access to AO products while ensuring their safety. The system follows some steps and by following these every industry can carry out authentic verification.
Online Age Verification – Set of Steps Customers Go Through
Age verification services allow businesses to onboard legit customers while ensuring their security and in the case of AO platforms, they can prevent minors from registering. Furthermore, through authentic and encrypted validation, industries can make sure registering customers is not a criminal so much so save them from related risks.
- Submit Personal Information
The registering customers are asked to fill in the displayed form and submit details like their full name, date of birth, and other personal identity information.
- Upload Supporting Document
In this step, the end-users are asked to upload the photos of their original identity documents as evidence to support the information they previously entered. These documents include a govt-issued ID card, driving license, or passport.
- Extraction of Identity Details Through OCR
The digital verification solution here uses its encrypted OCR technology to extract relevant information. For instance, for conducting age verification the tech extracts the date of birth.
- Identity Verification and Dispatching Results
After validation and verification of information, if the details match the results are presented in front of the end-user. In case it is declining the respective platform, as well as the customer, is informed. Further on, the results are kept secure in records through API calls for future use.
Popular Industry Use Cases of Digital Age Verification
Online age verification is widely employed by various businesses because of the hype it has created over the years, evident from Shufti Pro News. Furthermore, the technology it uses helps industries to deliver age-oriented services to targeted customers. To further highlight the benefit-providing age verification solutions, some of their prominent industrial use cases are listed underneath:
Age Verification in E-gaming and Gambling
This particular industry holds a worth of $776.4 million and is expected to grow as more and more players are shifting to digital games, especially the ones that involve monetary investments and profits. However, not all respective platforms are legit, various fraudulent ones massively exploit minors. Therefore, placing age checks during registration can counter these consequences to a great extent by restricting minors within time.
Age Verification for Tobacco and Liquor Online Stores
Tobacco, nicotine, and other liquor products like cigarettes, alcohol, vapes, cigars, and hookahs are not legal for the underaged. As per the guidelines by 1984’s National Minimum Drinking Age Act, the set age is 18 or in some countries, it is 21. Ever since purchasing has gone online, buying any such AO product is not a tough task for minors. Therefore, the platforms should play the prime responsibility here to identify the age and restrict underage.
The global tobacco and alcohol market is expected to grow at unexpected rates which makes it clear that more underaged consumers are registering on digital platforms. They either use fake information or the process is strict, they upload their parent’s credentials to sweep through it. Hence, industries need robust solutions to verify age and detect minors’ tricks.
Age Verification for E-commerce Platforms
As per various records and findings, customers who shop online are dramatically increasing and digitization has brought innovation to the table. Due to this e-commerce platforms are exposed to unforeseen consequences. Merchants of AO-based services like alcohol, dating apps, and adult-themed content and services sites should ensure that the customers they are registering satisfy the legal age requirements. Otherwise, they might have to deal with hefty penalties.
Final Verdict
To wrap up, digital age verification services are becoming mandatory for industries with online operations to protect minors from getting manipulated. It is the corporate social responsibility as well as regulatory obligations of the platforms to restrict minors’ access and protect them in time.
