Legislation for Online Sales of Alcohol and Tobacco

New rules and payment solutions

With the new rules that came into effect on 1 October 2024, there have been significant changes in the legislation around online sales of alcohol, tobacco and nicotine products in Denmark.

The purpose of the rules is to ensure that young people under the legal age do not have access to these products through online platforms.

This article guides e-commerce merchants to understand and implement age verification and payment solutions that comply with the new requirements.

The new requirements: Age verification for online sales of alcohol and tobacco

The new legislation requires that all retailers selling alcohol, tobacco and nicotine products online must be able to document that age verification has been carried out to ensure the buyer meets the legal age requirement.

The most important requirements can be summarised as follows:

#1 Age verification: To avoid sales to minors, it is now mandatory to verify the buyer's age through digital methods. This can be done using MitID.

#2 Strict control of sales platforms: Retailers have a responsibility to ensure they comply with the new guidelines, and violations can lead to fines or in the worst case closure of their online store.

#3 The buyer's age must be verified before the sale is completed: That is, before or at the time of payment for alcohol, nicotine, e-cigarette and/or tobacco products, it must be verified that the buyer's age is above the age limit for the product in question.

Using the Freepay payment gateway for age verification (all-in-one solution)

Freepay can be a valuable partner in complying with these rules, as the platform can offer seamless integration of age verification into the payment flow.

Freepay offers a solution that can be integrated into the webshop and verify the buyer's age without creating unnecessary friction in the user experience.

By using Freepay for age verification, e-commerce merchants ensure:

Automated age confirmation: Freepay can integrate age verification directly into the purchasing process using MitID.

Secure and legal transaction: With Freepay it is possible to ensure that age verification meets national requirements, while also enhancing security for both the buyer and the retailer.

Implementing Freepay for compliant sales

To meet the legislative requirements for e-commerce merchants, the following steps can for example be implemented:

#1 Integrate age verification into the payment flow: Ensure that customers go through age verification before payment can be completed. We have made this simple with a single click and age verification is available in the payment window.

#2 Optimise the customer experience: Freepay offers a payment gateway that works quickly and intuitively for the buyer, reducing the risk of buyers abandoning the shopping cart mid-process.

Compliance with legislation and consequences of failing age verification

Failure to comply with the new rules can have serious consequences.

Authorities now have better tools to detect and handle violations, which means that e-commerce merchants who do not perform proper age verification may risk losing their sales rights.

To avoid sanctions, all e-commerce merchants should therefore ensure that their platform lives up to the new legislation — both by implementing technologically supported age verification and by choosing a payment gateway that can document compliance.

Final advice for e-commerce merchants

The new age verification rules require a change in the way online retailers of alcohol, tobacco and nicotine products run their business.

By choosing a secure payment gateway like Freepay, e-commerce merchants can achieve full compliance with legislation while ensuring a smooth customer experience.

Finally, e-commerce merchants should continuously keep up to date with legislation and ensure that their technological solutions are able to adapt to any future requirements.

With the right payment solution, your webshop can continue to deliver alcohol and tobacco products in a secure and legal manner — to the benefit of both you and your customers.

Link to the Danish Safety Technology Authority: vejledning online alderskontrol sept 2024