Selling vapes online in the UK? Learn how to meet legal age verification rules on Shopify using modern, invisible tools like Pay by Bank. Avoid popups, protect conversions, and stay compliant.
“We used to lose sales because of clunky popup age gates. Switching to Pay by Bank made our checkout smoother and finally compliant.” - James A., Founder, VapeCart UK
Why Age Verification Matters for UK Vape Stores
Selling vape products to anyone under 18 is illegal in the UK. The government enforces strict rules to prevent youth access to nicotine-based products, and non-compliance can lead to severe consequences. If you're a Shopify store owner in this space, you're fully responsible for ensuring that only customers aged 18 and above can complete a purchase.
Simply adding a checkbox or a text notice isn't enough. UK regulations require an actual verification mechanism that can prove a user's age at the time of purchase.
Here's why it matters:
- Legal Risk: Violating age restrictions can lead to fines, store bans, or even criminal liability.
- Payment Processor Risk: Gateways may freeze or shut down accounts for non-compliance.
- Brand Trust: Following the law shows customers you're a responsible business.
While Shopify hosts your store, it doesn’t enforce age verification. That obligation falls entirely on you.
Shopify’s Limitations on Age Verification
Although Shopify supports a wide range of ecommerce features, it falls short when it comes to age verification for restricted products like vapes. The platform doesn’t offer any built-in age-checking features and doesn’t assume liability if your store breaks the law.
Here's what you should know:
- Shopify doesn’t have built-in support for verifying age at checkout.
- You can install third-party apps, but most rely on popups or forms that can easily be bypassed.
- No legal guarantees or liability protection is offered by Shopify for merchants selling regulated goods.
Many stores try free or low-cost age verification apps, but these are often insufficient. They rely on:
- Easily faked date-of-birth entry fields
- Popups that don’t log verification events
- Tools that can be disabled via browser tools
For real compliance, you need a backend-verified, secure method that works automatically during checkout.
Better Than Popups: Invisible Age Verification via Pay by Bank
Popup age gates might check a box legally, but they come with tradeoffs: poor UX, unreliable inputs, and no real enforcement. Customers can enter a fake birth date or dismiss the popup, and you're left exposed.
Pay by Bank, supported by Wallid, solves this by making age verification part of the payment process itself. Using the UK’s Open Banking framework, it verifies age based on the customer’s bank-verified date of birth. There are no extra steps, no friction, and no guesswork.
How it works:
- The customer selects "Pay by Bank" at checkout.
- They authenticate with their banking app (just like verifying a payment).
- Wallid checks the verified date of birth from their bank profile.
- If the customer is under 18, the payment is automatically declined.
Why it’s better:
- Passive: Customers don’t need to do anything extra.
- Trusted: Uses government-regulated Open Banking systems.
- Invisible: No impact on design, UX, or performance.
- Compliant: Meets TRPR and PSD2 standards for vape sales.
In short: it's seamless for users, secure for regulators, and stress-free for merchants.
Comparison: Age Verification Methods for Shopify UK Vape Stores
How to Set Up Age Verification at Checkout (with Pay by Bank)
How to Add Age Verification to Shopify Checkout Using Pay by Bank
1. Install Pay by Bank on Your Shopify Store
Use the Wallid Checkout Extension to integrate Pay by Bank into your Shopify checkout. This setup is compatible with both standard Shopify and Shopify Plus. Need help? Wallid support can assist with installation.
2. Enable Age Verification in Your Wallid Dashboard
Log in to your Wallid merchant dashboard and locate the "Security & Risk Settings" section. Toggle on "18+ Verification." This will enable background checks using the customer’s bank-verified date of birth.
3. Add Age Disclaimers to Your Storefront
To align with best practices and transparency, add 18+ notices in your site header, footer, product pages, and policies. This builds shopper trust and further signals compliance to regulators.
4. Test and Monitor Transactions
Place a test order using Pay by Bank. Check your Wallid dashboard logs to confirm that the age verification succeeded or blocked the purchase. Enable logging and alerts for audit readiness.
