Age verification systems keep businesses safe
An ID scanner is an efficient tool that helps businesses that sell age-restricted products (such as alcohol and tobacco) ensure they are not inadvertently violating any local, state, or federal laws.
Age verification is an essential part of the job for a convenience store or bar, and if an employee sells cigarettes or alcohol to a minor, the owners of the establishment will be penalized. If underage purchasers of alcohol are in a car accident (even if they were not driving while intoxicated), the penalties could be even more severe. This is the case even if an employee asked for an ID and was fooled by a forged one.
For this reason, more and more places of business that must deal with age verification laws are investing in an ID scanner.
Businesses that require age verification
Many companies are required to verify the age of their bosses. Any businesses that sell cigarettes or alcohol (retail), nightclubs and casinos that offer liquor to patrons are also required to check IDs, as are restaurants with liquor licenses and now, marijuana dispensaries.
It is not enough to verify IDs, as many people try to purchase such items with fake IDs and are often successful.
The rise of fake IDs
In the 1980s, the legal drinking age was raised from 18 to 21 and college students who wanted to drink began making fake cut-and-paste IDs. These IDs were easy to spot and most bartenders and alcohol purveyors refused to serve them.
With the improvement and easy access to printing technology during the 1990s, it became easier than ever for teenagers to acquire fake IDs, and the IDs themselves were of such high quality that it was easy to fool waiters, clerks liquor stores and supermarkets. .
According to the Marquette Law Review, by the year 2000 there were more than 10,000 websites offering fake IDs that would look exactly like the real thing. In 2014 that number has increased exponentially.
Since 2005, employees and bartenders have used an ID scanner to verify age. An ID scanner checks the magnetic stripe on the back of all IDs to see if they are valid. Until recently, the cost of an ID scanner has been prohibitive, but as technology improves, the price drops, depending on which model the company decides to invest in.
age verification
An ID scanner is a good investment for any business that has to age verify a percentage of their customers.
Those companies that scrimp and place the onus of age verification solely on busy and sometimes overworked employees so they can calculate ages based on the fine print on driver’s licenses or state IDs (or things that look like driver’s licenses or state IDs) are at risk of fines. or even harsher penalties.
ID scanners pay for your investment
The latest ID scanners do much more than just verify that an ID is valid. If an ID scanner is used in a club, for example, on all users, it can identify users who have been banned for reasons other than age, for example persistent noisy behavior.
Considering the stakes, investing in an ID scanner makes a lot of economic sense.
