A new study by Juniper Research predicts a significant increase in global spend on Know Your Customer/Know Your Business (KYC/KYB) systems by non-financial businesses. The research suggests a growth of 140% over the next five years, rising from $9.2 billion in 2024 to $22 billion by 2029. This growth is largely expected to be driven by regulators enforcing strict requirements to protect underage consumers across diverse industries.

KYC/KYB systems are used to verify and authenticate users and businesses, while assessing and monitoring their risk. The report indicates that the proliferation of stringent regulations has caused friction for businesses offering age-restricted goods and services, such as medication or online adult content. In the US, the Texas House Bill 1181 enforces civil penalties of up to $10,000 per day for violations of its age verification requirements. Failure to comply with these regulations by not providing sufficient age-verification tools could have catastrophic consequences for enterprises.

"As businesses increasingly need to verify age, they must partner with KYC/KYB systems vendors that can automate age verification, while ensuring compliance by not storing customer data. As these platforms are not used to being regulated in this way, picking the right system is critical to success," says Daniel Bedford, the author of the report.

The research recommends that to comply with new regulations without creating onerous manual work, non-financial businesses should adopt systems that leverage capabilities such as Optical Character Recognition (OCR). OCR quickly extracts data from passports or driving licences, streamlining customer onboarding, ensuring secure transactions and helping enterprises maintain regulatory compliance.