Currently, iDenfy’s team has been working on a new addition to its existing Age Verification platform through a new project, Age Identification (AI). This project is co-funded by the European Union (EU):
-> Project budget: €194,416
-> EU funding: €138,000
-> Project implementation period: July 2026 – July 2027
Instead of asking the user to upload a government-issued ID document and extracting the user’s DOB, the improved system will now offer an alternative, or a non-document age identification workflow, which allows the user to onboard and access age-restricted platforms without carrying a physical ID document in their pocket.
What the Age Identification (AI) Project is About
Together with the help of the EU’s funding program designed to kickstart new business ideas, iDenfy’s team is building its new Age Estimation tool. The EU is currently co-financing this Age Identification project, helping iDenfy to develop a fully automated, non-document workflow designed to assess the user’s age based on their biometric traits and captured selfie.
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Explore iDenfyThe Main Goal of the Project
The project’s objective is to develop and bring a fully automated, user-experience-focused age verification solution. It will target and help solve two main challenges:
- Reduce friction for the end-user. Long waiting times or unnecessary manual steps during age verification can lead to drop-offs. For the initial onboarding step, this translates to lost customers who go to a competitor’s platform, negatively impacting the business.
- Minimize manual workload for analysts. Compliance teams often need to juggle multiple applications, including Know Your Customer (KYC) submissions or age verification approvals that require manually re-verifying the user’s submitted ID document or selfie. The new solution will solve this issue, automatically approving or denying the user based on the AI-powered age assessment.
iDenfy’s Age Verification vs the New Age Estimation
iDenfy currently only offers a document-based age verification workflow, which means that the system captures the user’s ID and reads whether the personal information, including the user’s date of birth, is correct or above the required threshold. This is known as a standard age verification system that uses a physical ID document to onboard a user.
In contrast, age estimation works differently and clears most users in seconds without asking them to use their ID document. It defines an approximate age from a facial image:
-> If the estimated age is below the required threshold, such as 18 or 21, the user doesn’t pass verification.
-> If the estimated age meets or exceeds the threshold, the user is accepted and verified.
That’s why the goal of this EU-backed Age Identification project and the new add-on of Age Estimation by iDenfy is to improve conversions and offer businesses even more flexibility when it comes to safely ensuring that minors don’t access age-restricted items/services like adult-only content platforms or e-marketplaces selling alcohol or tobacco.
Why the Age Identification Project Matters
The EU-funded project helps iDenfy’s team improve its Age Verification platform, offering businesses a new, more seamless non-doc alternative for onboarding users and ensuring standard age verification compliance requirements. This is considered to be a much safer digital and fully remote age verification process compared to old practices like age gating, which are easily bypassable.
Obliged businesses that require age verification measures in the EU and in other jurisdictions include iGaming, tobacco, alcohol, and similar spheres. iDenfy’s new Age Estimation workflow will be available alongside the standard document-based verification method, depending on the business and its compliance requirements. iDenfy also offers no-code, ready-made age verification integrations for platforms like Shopify.
