The German banking industry is conducting a pilot project to test age verification on mobile devices. The project involves using a digital giro card on mobile phones for mobile payments. The goal is to be able to directly check a person’s age during the payment process, particularly for purchases that require age verification, such as alcohol or cigarettes. This would be beneficial at machines and self-checkouts in supermarkets. The initiative is also aimed at advancing the technical development of the debit payment system towards “Girocard 4.0”. The necessary information to determine the age of the cardholder is already stored on the Girocard, but verification is currently done offline. However, with the new online check procedure using the digital Girocard, the need for a security module in the payment terminal could be eliminated. The pilot project is being tested on cigarette vending machines, with 180 machines in southern and western Germany participating. The first transactions using digital Girocards have already been successfully approved. The project is expected to expand to more acceptance points over the course of the year. The new age verification option is seen as a crucial step for vending machine operators and customers. Currently, there are around six million digital Girocards in Germany, with various financial institutions offering the digital card for Android smartphones. The physical and digital Girocards already issued are technically prepared for online age verification. Customers whose “EC card” does not support online check can still shop at participating machines, as the age check will continue to be carried out offline for them. Once the pilot project is successfully completed and evaluated, online age verification will be implemented on a regular basis.
