NACS announces TruAge digital ID-verification solution
The new TruAge solution makes the traditional carding experience more convenient and accurate.
A new digital identification solution has been announced by NACS that enhances current age-verification systems at all retail points of sale and protects user privacy, according to the global trade association and its standards-setting partner Conexxus.
The new TruAge solution makes the traditional carding experience more convenient and accurate. It addresses age-verification beyond the traditional store register to online ordering, home delivery and curbside pickup, which have grown in popularity during the pandemic.
The solution is already supported by more than 130 retail companies that represent 22,000-plus convenience store locations in the United States, plus four industry point-of-sale (POS) providers.
A customer’s date of birth and photo are used to verify identity. When confirming age and identity, one-time-use tokens are placed on the customer’s mobile device to confirm legal age to purchase age-restricted products.
“TruAge provides the least expensive method to reliably verify the age of our customers through the numerous face-to-face authentications already conducted in our stores. It does not expose sensitive personal information and is an important step toward eliminating youth access to adult products. No stand-alone POS system can do this today,” said 2020-21 NACS Chairman Kevin Smartt, who is the CEO and president of Kwik Chek/TXB stores.
A national consumer survey conducted by NACS in 2020 found that 90% of Americans support a nationwide standard for age-verification, and 78% of Americans want a universal, compulsory approach for all age-restricted purchases. More than three in four Americans (76%) also said they would support the development of an age-verification program by major retailers that sell age-restricted products. Most consumers ages 21 to 30 said they would download the TruAge™ app after hearing a description of what it is and how it works.
“Our industry conducts 165 million transactions a day, and 50 million of them involve an age-restricted product. Consumers tell us that age-verification is essential to restrict access and sales to minors, and it is even more important today as new forms of last-mile delivery add challenges to making sure all online orders and deliveries of age-restricted products are legal,” said NACS President and CEO Henry Armour.
TruAge is free to retailers, consumers and POS providers, and its relevant intellectual property will be placed in the public domain—removing significant barriers to adoption.
