Age verification is the process of confirming a person’s age. Verifying the date of birth (age verification) of a person might be the most important step for many sectors and businesses whose products or services are age-restricted. In the past, minors could easily buy age-restricted items like e-cigarettes, beer, alcohol, marijuana, etc. The online retailer didn’t even bother to ask for their age. There is a law in the US in which it is strictly prohibited to sell alcohol to a person who is under 21. This legislation was passed to protect the physical and mental health of children.  

The need for online age verification

Online age verification is very important in some situations for a variety of reasons. In addition to cases that are frequent offline, such as purchasing age-restricted things and visiting particular premises, there are further factors to take into account for shifting age verification online. Age verification is one of the most important aspects of KYC (Know Your Customer) procedures. Regulators from all over the world are monitoring it so closely. Therefore, several age verification solutions are used globally to verify age. 

• Dating apps and social media 

According to the most recent statistics on social media, there were 4.48 billion users of dating apps and social media globally in 2021. Because of their nature and general aim, underage users might result in inappropriate communication or engagement. 

Due to this issue, Instagram has presented a new policy. From now on, anyone under 16, or in a few countries, under 18, will be set to private their account by default. Users will have the option to return to public mode, while Instagram aggressively promotes young people to utilize the mode of a private account.

• Online gaming and gambling 

Several European countries strengthened their position on minors’ protection in 2021. From July 2021, online gambling and gaming providers in Germany must implement essential controls to avoid not an age-verified person from trying to access their platforms.

• Trading of cryptocurrency 

Several countries tightened their laws due to the high possibility of suspicious conduct in this area. Some of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges have already imposed limits on unverified individuals. For example, Binance allows people to be above the age of 18 to open an account.

Identity verification and KYC

Identity verification is the process of establishing that a user is who they say they are when going to open a bank account, ask for a loan, or engage in other financial transactions. Identity verification is a significant security precaution in combating new account fraud. It plays an important part in verifying the identity of a person in financial institutions, anti-money laundering, and KYC operations. Many platforms all over the world are taking this issue of fake identity seriously. They are also raising funds for the expansion of identity verification systems. For example, Shufti Pro Funding raised $20M to solve the organization’s IDV process.

Usage of identity verification

Financial institutions utilize digital identity verification to allow a remote registration process for opening a new bank account. New clients anticipate the ability to establish an account online. As a result, financial institutions must now provide a digital registration process via mobile and online channels.  

In real-time, different firms use digital identity verification to combat application fraud and detect false identification documents. Given the severity and effect of fraud, financial institutions must identify application fraud at the time of opening an account. Digital identity verification could be used to determine whether or not a person is who they claim to be. According to Shufti Pro News, the anti-corruption commission of Iraq caught a fraud of $700M in Iraq’s public funding.

Identity Verification Benefits

• A digital process provides an outstanding experience for the user and can boost digital channel development. 
• When an unidentified applicant or potential client is remote, digital identity verification can assist financial institutions in reducing fraud. 
• Digital identity verification can aid financial organizations in satisfying KYC standards. 
• Facial biometric digital identification verification ensures that the person providing the ID is the same as per the ID document. 
• Everyone can use and access mobile picture capturing.

Conclusion

It is common for shopkeepers to verify ID details when purchasing certain things, like cigarettes or alcohol. Also, in the entertainment field, the situation appears to be similar. Cinemas frequently check the age of people who look younger before permitting them to attend an age-restricted film showing. It is also essential to provide an ID when entering specific locations like live concerts, bars, or clubs. With the rise of e-commerce and the entertainment industry, it has become important to adopt age verification techniques.