Proving age online without handing over personal data: OneID®’s WooCommerce plugin

Retailers selling age-restricted products online need to check a customer’s age without losing the sale or putting personal data at risk. Box UK built OneID®’s bank-verified age check as a plugin for WooCommerce, to the standards the WordPress plugin directory demands.

overview

In short

OneID verifies a person’s identity through their own bank, without asking them for extra information or storing their personal data. Its age verification had launched as a Shopify plugin, and OneID wanted to reach WooCommerce retailers next.

  • A WooCommerce plugin built to the WordPress plugin directory’s strict guidelines and standards
  • Retailers connected to customers’ banks to verify age without leaving the online store
  • Automated testing across environments, and automated releases for updates
  • No data vulnerabilities introduced into the retailer’s store
  • Published in the WordPress plugin directory in early 2022, opening OneID to WooCommerce retailers

Client

OneID®

Sector

Ecommerce

Services on this project

Customer background

OneID® aims to give people control over their own data, by making it easier to prove who they are online without putting their personal information at risk. Instead of uploading documents or entering extra details, a customer confirms their identity through their own bank.

At the time of this project, OneID’s network covered 50 million adults, through 29 connected banks and 37 data sources.

For retailers, a simpler and safer identity check means they can make age-restricted products available to more customers.

The challenge

Retailers selling age-restricted products have to confirm a customer’s age, to protect themselves legally and to stop young people making potentially dangerous purchases. But earlier age verification tools had struggled, with complicated and unintuitive journeys, fears about how data was stored and shared, and questions of trust and security.

OneID’s answer was to confirm age through the customer’s bank, without asking for additional information and without storing personal data. It launched first as a plugin for Shopify stores. To reach more retailers, OneID wanted the same check available on WooCommerce, the ecommerce plugin for WordPress.

That meant building a plugin that met the WordPress plugin directory’s strict guidelines and standards.

Our approach

Box UK built the plugin to the strict guidelines and standards the WordPress plugin directory demands, so retailers could find and install it from the official directory.

Because this was an identity product, the team also looked beyond the first release. Automating testing and releases added a further layer of security, so future updates would be tested across environments and released the same way each time.

The integration was designed so the customer never had to leave the store.

What we built

The OneID plugin connected retailers and banks to verify a customer’s identity instantly, without taking the customer away from the online store or introducing any data vulnerabilities.

Behind it, automated testing ran across environments, and automated releases handled updates to the plugin whenever they were needed. For a product built on trust in how personal data is handled, that automation was an added layer of security.

Delivery

The plugin met the WordPress plugin directory’s standards and was published there in early 2022.

The outcome

With the plugin in the WordPress plugin directory, OneID’s age verification became available to WooCommerce retailers alongside its existing Shopify customers. Retailers could add a bank-verified age check to their stores without asking customers for extra information, and OneID had a route for rolling the service out to more retailers.

Frequently asked questions

How does bank-based age verification work?

The customer confirms their identity through their own bank, which already holds verified details. With OneID, that meant no extra information to provide and no personal information stored by OneID.

Can age verification work on WooCommerce?

Yes. OneID’s age verification was built as a WooCommerce plugin, letting customers verify through their bank without leaving the store.

What does it take to get a plugin into the WordPress directory?

Meeting the directory’s guidelines and standards for code and security, and passing its review. For OneID, Box UK built to those standards from the start.

How do you keep a security plugin safe after launch?

Automate testing and releases, so every update is tested across environments and released the same way. Box UK built that automation into the OneID plugin.

Why don’t customers trust traditional age checks?

Earlier tools often meant complicated journeys and worries about how personal data would be stored and shared. Verifying through a bank the customer already uses avoids asking them to hand over anything new.

overview

What this means for your organisation

If you’re taking a product to a new platform, particularly one that handles identity, payments or regulated data, the build is only half the work. The platform’s review process, the security of every future update and the experience inside someone else’s checkout all decide whether it succeeds.
If you’re planning a plugin or integration for WordPress or WooCommerce, send us a few lines about what it needs to do. We’ll tell you what the directory will expect.

Client

OneID®

Sector

Ecommerce

Client

OneID®

Sector

Ecommerce

Services

Book a meeting

Delivering an age verification plugin to support OneID® to shield retailers and consumers from fraud.

OneID® seeks to give people control back over their own data, by providing solutions that make it easier for people to prove who they are online without their personal information being at risk. With streamlined solutions in place, retailers can make their products and services available to more consumers – delivering greater revenues alongside improved social and economic inclusion.

Facts about OneID®

person_check

50M

adults covered

assured_workload

29

connected banks

data_check

37

sources of data

The challenge

As more and more consumers turn to online channels to buy a wide variety of products and services, making the purchase as seamless and streamlined as possible is crucial to deliver a great customer experience that drives increased conversion rates, higher order values and more repeat visits.

At the same time, it’s vital that retailers are able to confirm the identity of their consumers, to protect themselves legally and protect young consumers from making potentially dangerous purchases.

Previous age verification solutions have faced numerous challenges, including complicated and unintuitive user journeys, fears around data storage and sharing, and questions of trust and security. The lack of a single, consolidated solution means that today the average consumer has around 200 – 250 different online identities – and is likely unaware of the risk of fraud this presents.

The solution

OneID® wanted to launch a sophisticated age verification solution that tackled the main issues with existing offerings, by working with banks to confirm a consumer’s identity without requiring additional information from them, and not storing any personal information in the process.

This solution – OneID®Age Verification – was initially launched as a plugin for Shopify sites, with OneID® then seeking to expand their reach through additional plugins. Of particular focus was the ecommerce plugin for the hugely popular CMS WordPress, WooCommerce, which currently powers 20% of the world’s top 1 million online stores.

To support them in their aim, OneID® turned to Box UK, a leading WordPress developer combining extensive enterprise ecommerce experience with a strong focus on user-centred design to produce award-winning digital solutions.

The Box UK development team created a robust and high-performance plugin that adheres to the strict guidelines and standards the WordPress plugin directory demands. The build also made use of leading automation practices to provide a valuable added layer of security, enabling automated testing across environments as well as automated releases when updates are required to the plugin.

Additionally, the plugin showcases the power of integration, connecting retailers and banks to instantly verify consumer identities, without taking them away from the online store or introducing any data vulnerabilities.

The results

With the OneID® Age Verification plugin now available as part of WordPress’ directory, OneID® has joined a vibrant and extensive ecosystem, opening their solution up to a huge range of ecommerce sites.

OneID® can also have full confidence that their innovative solution is underpinned by the highest quality technological implementation, as they roll it out to retailers, banks and consumers while also looking at additional opportunities to diversify their portfolio with additional verification solutions.

Talk to one of our digital experts

Pete Withers-Jones

Head of Development

Do you have an idea or a project you need support with?

Pete Withers-Jones leads Box UK’s Development Practice, and has over 20 years of experience in software development, working across various industries and technologies.

Book a meeting with Pete

Or call us on 020 7439 1900

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