Robust Age Verification so I can use SMS Marketing

[TheWiscoGuy]

Hey Square Community,

I’m looking for help integrating a robust age-verification solution into my Square Online website. We’re a bar/restaurant and want to offer bottle reservations + in-store pickup, but we need something more solid than the basic “Are you 21?” popup.

What I’m specifically looking for:

•A third-party age-verification tool that works with Square Online

•Ability to verify ID numbers, DOB, or document scans

•Something that can be added at checkout or product level

•Ideally an app or API that plays nicely with Square’s ecosystem

•Bonus: A solution approved/commonly used for alcohol pickup orders

Right now, we’re only planning to reserve online and finalize the sale when the customer picks up, but we still want strong screening upfront.

If anyone has:

•A working integration

•A workaround

•A recommended partner

•Or knows what’s coming down the pipeline…

…I’d really appreciate it.

Thanks!

Mark

Pop’s Pub on Pioneer – Muskego, WI

[Donnie-M]

@TheWiscoGuy Question, are you having an issue where people under age are trying to order online?  What you are asking for is a lot of friction in the checkout process when you have to by law still verify the ID when you dispense the alcohol.  At least from my ServSafe training that is pretty much universal.  I know Wisconsin is a little different with parents of people 18-21, but the purchaser has to be over 21.  I would tend to lean towards only managing it if it becomes a problem.

If you do want strong screening up front, there are several ways to do it.  You could gate your website behind the age verification and use a 3rd party like truage or incode to do it.  There is even one I saw using zapier to add verification to square online.  All of these layer like a custom integration.  I have no doubt it can be done, but I would factor the cost into it.  If I am missing something, I am interested to see what you are tackling.

[TheKettleKing]

I hear what you’re saying but we’re not selling anything online, people still need to show up to purchase everything and present the correct ID. Square has said that we need a robust age verification in order to use the SMS marketing simply because we do sell alcohol at our establishment. Long of the short, just looking for a quick integration to satisfy Square so I can actually get a “phone number” so I can used text based marketing via our loyalty numbers we have.

I’ll have a look at the Truage and incode. Hope that satisfies their requirements. 

[ReturnFlow_HQ]

Hey @TheWiscoGuy (Mark),

I totally get the frustration — running a bar/restaurant and trying to set up bottle reservations + pickup while dealing with Square’s limitations on robust age verification is a pain. Square’s native tools (the basic popup on Square Online or the in-POS prompts for Retail) often aren’t considered “robust” enough by their compliance team when alcohol is involved, especially if you want to unlock full SMS marketing features.

Here are the most practical paths people are using right now for Square Online:

• Third-party age verification services that can gate your site or integrate at checkout:
  • TruAge, Incode, Persona, or Veriff — these support document scans, DOB checks, and ID verification. Some can be layered on via custom code or Zapier.
  • Simpler option: Commoninja Age Verification widget (easy embed code for Square sites). These are commonly recommended in the community for alcohol sellers.
• For in-store pickup, you can still handle final ID checks manually at the counter (Square’s POS has basic age prompts if you’re on the Retail app), but the upfront online screening is what Square’s compliance team usually wants to see.

If the goal is mainly to enable reliable SMS marketing without the compliance roadblocks, a lot of bars and restaurants in similar spots are switching to dedicated tools that don’t rely on Square’s built-in SMS.

We built Return Flow HQ exactly for Square users like Pop’s Pub — it connects with one click via Square OAuth, runs AI-powered personalized SMS on full autopilot (unique messages per customer, smart timing, etc.), and is designed to stay compliant (TCPA-safe, easy opt-outs, etc.). Many spots use it alongside their own age verification setup for reservations/pickup flows.

It’s month-to-month with no long contracts, and setup takes under 2 minutes. You can check it out here if it might help: https://returnflowhq.com/signup

Either way, hope you get the robust verification sorted soon so you can start texting your regulars effectively. If you want recommendations on specific age verification providers that have worked well for Wisconsin bars, or have any questions about SMS options, feel free to reply or DM me.

Cheers, Wesley / Return Flow HQ