Age verification could mitigate retailer fines from UK’s Tobacco and Vapes Bill

The Tobacco and Vapes Bill will introduce penalties for underaged tobacco and vape sales in England and Wales. Among other actions, the bill is enhancing online age verification requirements to prevent underaged online sales. Biometric age assurance providers like Innovative Technology (ITL) hear opportunity knocking.

Local Trading Standards Officers will now be able to immediately issue fines of £100 (roughly US$127) to retailers for underage sales as well as proxy buyers. Scotland and Northern Ireland already have fixed penalty notice schemes.

According to Better Retailing, Bestway stores will continue their government-led digital ID trial for age verification for the purchase of alcohol. And last week, stakeholders met for a Westminster conference to discuss digital IDs.

The UK’s proposed Data Protection and Digital Information Bill will create a foundation for digital IDs, which will likely make identity verification safer and easier, but critics of the bill are concerned about privacy risks. The bill would also be reviewed every 12 months after it is enacted, posing the potential for evolving legal requirements.

With these new developments, age verification providers in the UK could help businesses to more effectively adhere to age restriction laws, avoid getting duped by fake IDs, and fend off fines.

ITL’s MyCheckr to support age verification in the vaping industry

ITL’s biometrics trading partner for the vaping industry, the Dyflin Group, is partnering with a vaping products distributor to enhance age verification in vapes sales with ITL’s MyCheckr.

The Dyflin Group is collaborating with Vape Supplier Ltd (VSL), a vaping product distributor for convenience stores, ITL has announced. Dyflin has been supplying ITL’s age estimation to vape stores since the start of a partnership in October 2023.

ITL’s MyCheckr system uses a camera to estimate a customer’s age anonymously. An LED above the screen turns either green or red to signify if a customer passes or fails, respectively. Internet connection is not needed.

A “big advantage of using our solution is that we do not charge fees per age check and there are no monthly subscriptions,” says John Vallis, senior business development manager for biometrics at ITL.

ITL presented its age verification products at the EuroCIS retail show in Düsseldorf. The ICU Lite, which can integrate with self-service checkouts to automate age checks, was the most popular offering at its booth, according to Thorsten Labusch, VP of sales and business development.

“Seeing this fully connected with our partner’s POS system, retailers could clearly see how this could benefit their business and how easy it is to install.”

ITL’s cash handling equipment to automate cash payments was also displayed.

Article Topics

age verification  |  biometrics  |  Innovative Technology  |  retail biometrics  |  UK