Using credit card as age verification when creating account

[SyntaxError]

To create account on steam you need to be 13 years or older, but now steam allows adult and sex games to be published, I suggest to allow the adult and sex content only after credit card age verification linked to the account.

[MalikQayum]

you don't need to be 18 to have a credit card, you can get one at the age of 13, in most european country at least.
also a credit card does not hold any information about your age.

[SyntaxError]

You cannot get credit card bellow 18, but you can get a credit card at 16 if a friend or family member makes you an authorized user on their account, the fact that you own a credit card is enough as age verification.

[Crazy Tiger]

Not everybody has a credit card, though.

[Cathulhu]

Never had a credit card in my entire life. Never needed one. And i'm not a minor. Not even back when i created this account.

[Brian9824]

Originally posted by 3RAS3R:

You cannot get credit card bellow 18, but you can get a credit card at 16 if a friend or family member makes you an authorized user on their account, the fact that you own a credit card is enough as age verification.

That is false, you cannot have your OWN account until you are 18, but you can have a credit card as young as 13 depending on the credit card company. I had one at 15 with a low limit for emergencies.

Also as its been said a credit card does not have any info on how old you are, and it wouldn't work as not everyone has one.

The better solution if your worried about kids accessing adult content is to practice a little known technique known as PARENTING

[SyntaxError]

Thanks all for the input.

[Cosmin 永远最好]

nice

[Satoru]

Originally posted by 3RAS3R:

To create account on steam you need to be 13 years or older, but now steam allows adult and sex games to be published, I suggest to allow the adult and sex content only after credit card age verification linked to the account.

Credit cards not not nearly as ubiquitious in many regions

Japan people tend not to use credit card and is primarily a cash based society

Russian people distrust bank and thus use systems like Kiwi which allow for functionally cash payments into major systems, like utilities or other things

Bank distrust can be even culturally ingrained. Brazil banks have collapsed often. I knew a Brazilian lady in the US who refused to use banks because she thought they would collapse just like in Brazil and she'd lose all her money. It took a LONG time to explain FDIC and that her money wasn't going anywhere even if the bank died, and for her to even think such a concept was worthy of her trust. I mean its understandable that if your home country just tells you to F off when a bank dies, why would America be any different?

Even if you look at america, access to credit cards can be problematic. Why? because banks dont have branches in poor areas. This is why poor, primarily minorities, rely on scammy check cashing locations. Because there isnt an actual bank they can go to in their neighborhoods. This is a systemic kind of financial racism, that is designed to keep poor minorities in the lower classes without the means for financial mobility.

Even debit type cards targeted to poor people are a scam. They have exorbitant monthly % rates, and have monthly 'maintenance fees' of several dollars a month. Just like check cashing, they are not good financial tools, they are only short term money making schemes to maximize the short term destruction of money for poor people.

[crunchyfrog]

Originally posted by 3RAS3R:

You cannot get credit card bellow 18, but you can get a credit card at 16 if a friend or family member makes you an authorized user on their account, the fact that you own a credit card is enough as age verification.

Ah but there aren't JUST credit cards, there are debit cards too. There's a myriad of different things and Steam has to developer a platform that accommodates the WHOLE WORLD.

As Satoru rightly points out there are wide variances due to society and procedure. Here in Britain, for exmaple, we have credit cards and debit cards as the primary versions of online card payments. Credit cards, are obviously much the same as US. Debit cards can either be prepayment, over-the-counter single or multiplae use affairs or "official" bank debit cards, like the one I use.

So you might not be aware of it, but kids FAR younger than 13 can have debit cards, and it doesn't matter whether prepayment ones or official bank ones. Hell, my youngest granddaughter has a debit card in her name.

And that's an end to your point right there- if you hook into the banking system data, you CANNOT deflect or filter what you think you can.

[Crashed]

Originally posted by 3RAS3R:

To create account on steam you need to be 13 years or older, but now steam allows adult and sex games to be published, I suggest to allow the adult and sex content only after credit card age verification linked to the account.

You claim to be in Greece; do privacy laws there (like GDPR) allow use of credit cards as age verification?

[Ettanin]

In Germany, a credit card wouldn't be a legitimate identity document.

[Satoru]

Originally posted by Ettanin:

In Germany, a credit card wouldn't be a legitimate identity document.

Germany already has a federalized ID system. Also Most EU citizens have a passport too because you can sneeze and hit 3 different countries. You can hop on an train and be in another EU country within a few hours.

The US doesnt have one at all. And when working in retail, we used to have a phone book sized manual that told us how to figure out how to spot fake state IDs. Yes lets have fun memorizing all the ways 51 states all have different looking cards with zero standardization.

Note that in the USA for domestic flights can still use a drivers license. Even now the 'fancy' drivers license requirement has been delayed yet again to Oct 2021. And even after Oct2021/22/23/etc you still can use a fancy state drivers license to get on a domestic flight too. Aka you still dont need a passport.

Meaning that many many people in the USA never get a passport, the only sort of federal ID document, because they dont need it to get on a domestic flight.

[crunchyfrog]

Originally posted by Ettanin:

In Germany, a credit card wouldn't be a legitimate identity document.

I think that's largely the case for the whole of the EU. It's certainly not the case in Britain, as you can simply fake your identity and if you're smart enough, get a fake credit card.

[Radene]

Originally posted by Satoru:

Originally posted by Ettanin:

In Germany, a credit card wouldn't be a legitimate identity document.

Germany already has a federalized ID system. Also Most EU citizens have a passport too because you can sneeze and hit 3 different countries. You can hop on an train and be in another EU country within a few hours.

EU citizens don't need a passport to travel within the EU (okay, technically "Schengen Area", which includes also certain countries not in the EU, such as Switzerland or Liechtenstein). That's one of the four fundamental principles of the EU.

[crunchyfrog]

Originally posted by Radene:

Originally posted by Satoru:

Germany already has a federalized ID system. Also Most EU citizens have a passport too because you can sneeze and hit 3 different countries. You can hop on an train and be in another EU country within a few hours.

EU citizens don't need a passport to travel within the EU (okay, technically "Schengen Area", which includes also countries not in the EU). That's one of the four fundamental principles of the EU.

Aye, this is indeed true. Although being British we are now out, but I've used this in the past myself when I've hopped from one country to another and didn't take my passport with me. I went to Ireland once without even owning a passport, as I ciouldn't warrant use of it at the time.