The Retailer Spring Edition 2022

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What’s more, this method of age verification minimises the data shared between parties. Online retailers who do check age comprehensively already usually do so via document uploads that give more personal information than is necessary. Through bank verification, a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ can be provided when businesses need to know if the user is the correct age. This doesn’t even require the date of birth to be shared, never mind photos of passports with even more precious data. Some online retailers are already taking action and changing the way they check their customer’s age. Those who remain passive are missing out on protecting themselves, their reputation, and most importantly – protecting their customers. So, the bigger issue remains: why is no one questioning these companies? Demanding they do something different? If a major supermarket chain were notoriously not checking the age of customers buying alcohol, parents would boycott it. Tony Allen, CEO and founder of Age Check Certification Scheme (ACCS) summed this up saying, “if it’s illegal offline, it should be illegal online”.

It is thrilling to see newbanking tech taking the lead in protecting children from harm, and it is great to see critical questions being asked of this new tech, but we should be maintaining the same level of energy when protecting those children online as well as offline, making solutions like these the default position. Martin Wilson, CEO, OneID®. Previously Chief Commercial Officer for VocaLink and Head of Change in Payments for NatWest Bank, Martin leads the team at OneID®, making it easier to prove who you are online.

Martin Wilson

Keith Mabbitt