With Big Growth Comes Big Change
The revenues of global online gambling and gaming should exceed $74 billion this year.
The bigger online gaming communities become, the greater potential for any negative experiences to be amplified – like underage players.
An increasing number of underage players are sneaking their way into online platforms designated as unsuitable for teens or kids under a certain age. Placing age restrictions on certain gaming platforms is the responsible thing to do, not to mention the law in some regions. But with the regulations and self-imposed restrictions come the inevitable exposure to identity fraud.
If you are running an online gaming platform, we have a question: How are you handling age verification? Are you using a “frictionless” path of least resistance process that maybe asks the player to enter their birth date, check a box verifying they are telling the truth, and seal the deal with some captchas? Relying on parental oversight?
Underaged kids accessing online gaming and gambling platforms isn’t just the parent’s problem anymore. Gaming companies can get hefty fines from regulatory agencies and lose revenue from the inevitable chargebacks once the underage player is discovered.
The Age Verification Policy Landscape
When considering age verification, you typically think of adult-only products and services. That narrow definition is expanding – and for a good reason. In the past, minors would have to physically be at a business’s location to attempt to gain access. Today, people can order everything online, so the “gate” that protects minors must sit at the digital entry point.
Gaming operators must ensure that they allow verified, age-appropriate players and protect minors from gaining access to age-restricted content.
The lack of appropriate checks for verifying the age of users can cause severe problems for them. The number of children in the US and Europe with gambling issues will move upwards of 70,000 by 2024.
This makes gaming operators both legally and ethically responsible for making sure they are onboarding legitimate and age-appropriate players to their platforms.
New Laws Protect Minors Around the World
Regulatory authorities worldwide are trying to address this issue by making gaming operators follow strict verification regulations.
In the United States, United Kingdom, and European Union, laws have been passed that restrict or prohibit the collection of private identifying information for children under 13 and require video and audio services to check the users’ age. These regulations significantly increase tech companies’ legal responsibility to protect children online and influence how other nations protect minors online.
The writing is on the wall – age verification is not only a best practice from an ethical standpoint but is also becoming the law in many countries. Suppose you want to expand your business across borders. In that case, it’s essential to have a Know Your Customer (KYC) process that includes a near-foolproof age verification tool that is up-to-date with global regulatory compliance mandates.
The Balancing Act: Speed and Compliance
We get it – every new step you add to a verification proves means potentially lower conversions.
An adult signing on to play a game that requires age verification won’t be willing to wait for a long time or suffer through many steps. At the same time, the KYC process must be robust enough to weed out underage players. There is a fine line between offering players a frictionless and trustworthy verification onboarding process.
Verification is vital. You need to know who your players are and which ones are old enough to be included in the game.
Automate Your New Player Verification
Do you still rely on manual identity verification?
When you choose to have a standalone age verification process or to add age verification to your existing KYC processes, every new player onboarding step means potentially lower conversions. Age verification must be super-fast, easy to use, and scalable on a minute’s notice to handle any spike in traffic.
Automate it and convert more players. Let’s get this straight: Frictionless is good, but frictionless, compliant, and totally automated is better.
No one should wait for human intervention while their age is being verified online. KYC should be automatic from end to end, including the age verification component. AU10TIX is the only identity verification solution that delivers zero human intervention player conversion.
Keep underage kids out. Let the real players in.
Age verification has emerged as a major milestone in remote identity verification. Be on the lookout for your competitors starting to deploy age verification on their websites. Are you verifying your user’s ages in a manner deemed acceptable by global compliance governance? Now is the time to begin assessing a new approach to verifying the ages of your players.
Protect your players. Protect your platform. Protect your hard-earned business.