Token of Trust Identity & Age Verification for BigCommerce: User Guide
Token of Trust Identity & Age Verification helps BigCommerce merchants verify customer identity or age when eligibility matters. You can manage your verification experience from within BigCommerce and view verification outcomes associated with orders.
This guide covers using Token of Trust after installation. If you have not installed the app yet, see the Token of Trust for BigCommerce Installation Guide.
Quick start
Once Token of Trust is installed, you can manage your verification setup from the app in your BigCommerce admin.
To get started:
- Open Token of Trust Identity & Age Verification in BigCommerce.
- Choose Identity/KYC or Age Verification based on your verification needs.
- Create or connect your Token of Trust account through the guided setup.
- Activate verification and enable it for checkout.
- Confirm your connection and setup status.
- Place a test order and complete the verification experience.
- Check the associated BigCommerce order for the verification result.
Token of Trust guides you through account connection and verification setup without requiring you to build a verification integration from scratch.
Choose your verification type
Token of Trust provides two verification options for BigCommerce.
Identity/KYC
Choose Identity/KYC when you need to verify a customer's identity.
Token of Trust can use a government-issued ID as part of identity verification, with additional verification options available based on your needs.
Age Verification
Choose Age Verification when you need to confirm that a customer meets an age requirement for an age-restricted product or experience.
Choose the verification option that fits your business requirements. Your organization is responsible for determining which verification and regulatory requirements apply to your business.
Turn verification on or off
Verification must be activated and enabled for checkout before it runs as part of the standard BigCommerce checkout experience.
To manage verification:
- Open Token of Trust from your BigCommerce admin.
- Go to your verification settings.
- Activate verification if it is not already active.
- Enable or disable checkout verification as needed.
- Save your changes.
When verification and checkout verification are both enabled, Token of Trust can run your configured verification workflow during the customer journey.
Tip: Test your storefront after changing verification settings to confirm that the customer experience works as expected.
Choose when verification happens
Token of Trust supports verification before or after checkout.
Before checkout is completed
With pre-checkout verification, Token of Trust initiates verification as the customer proceeds through checkout.
Token of Trust uses information provided during checkout to begin verification. If additional information is required, the customer is prompted to complete the Token of Trust verification experience. When the workflow is configured to enforce the result, the customer must resolve the verification before continuing.
After checkout
With post-checkout verification, the order is placed first. Token of Trust then initiates verification on the order confirmation page using information from the BigCommerce order.
Choose the timing that best fits your customer journey and business requirements.
Choose the address used for verification
Token of Trust can use either the customer's shipping address or billing address as the address basis for verification.
Configure the address option that fits your verification requirements. If an address basis has not been specified, the current integration falls back to the billing address.
Test your verification setup
Test the customer experience after initial setup and whenever you make an important change to your verification configuration.
- Confirm that your Token of Trust account and license are connected.
- Confirm that verification is activated and enabled for checkout.
- Review your setup status for unresolved errors.
- Open your storefront as a customer.
- Add a product to your cart and proceed to checkout.
- Enter the customer information needed for your test.
- Continue until the Token of Trust verification experience appears.
- Complete the verification process.
- Complete the order if you use pre-checkout verification. If you use post-checkout verification, complete verification after placing the order.
- Check the associated BigCommerce order for the verification result.
A verification that meets the configured Token of Trust verification conditions results in a Cleared status.
Check a customer's verification status
Token of Trust records the verification outcome on the associated BigCommerce order, giving your team visibility into the result.
The tot.VerificationStatus order metafield can contain these values:
| Status | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Cleared | The configured Token of Trust verification conditions were met. |
| Not Cleared | Verification ran, but the configured conditions were not met. |
| Verification Not Required | Verification was not enabled or required for the store. |
| Not Required | Verification was not applied to the order, such as for a manual or external order. |
The verification status describes the outcome of the Token of Trust workflow. It does not by itself determine whether an order or customer satisfies every legal or regulatory requirement that may apply to your business.
Check your connection and setup health
Token of Trust provides setup health information to help you confirm that the components required for your BigCommerce integration are connected.
You can review the status of your:
- Token of Trust account and license
- API connection
- Webhooks
- Storefront setup
You can also review the License & API area for license settings and detected errors.
If the Setup Health Check identifies a missing component, use the available re-run or repair option before testing verification again.
What customers experience during verification
The customer experience depends on the verification type and workflow you configure.
Token of Trust uses relevant customer and checkout or order information to begin verification. If additional information is required, the customer is prompted through the Token of Trust verification experience.
For an Identity/KYC workflow, this can include verification using a government-issued ID. Additional verification options may be available based on your needs.
For Age Verification, the workflow is used to confirm whether the customer meets the configured age requirement.
Customer data and privacy
Token of Trust processes customer information needed to perform the configured identity or age verification.
Depending on the verification flow, this can include:
- First and last name
- Email address
- Date of birth
- Phone number
- Billing, shipping, and location address information
- Browser fingerprint information
Shopper information required for verification is transmitted to Token of Trust as part of the verification process.
The verification status written back to the BigCommerce order contains the verification outcome, not the underlying shopper identity information.
For additional information about personal data handling, see the Token of Trust Privacy Policy.
BigCommerce checkout compatibility
Token of Trust's current BigCommerce integration is designed to work with Optimized One-Page Checkout.
Stores with heavily customized checkout experiences may require additional configuration because the standard integration relies on the supported BigCommerce checkout experience to trigger verification.
Verification is currently enabled at the store level. The current version does not provide item-level verification gating.
Troubleshooting
Verification does not appear during checkout
First, confirm that verification is activated and checkout verification is enabled.
Next, check your Setup Health status and confirm there are no unresolved storefront setup issues. Your store must also use a supported Optimized One-Page Checkout configuration. Heavily customized checkout experiences can affect how verification is triggered.
My connection or setup shows an error
Open the Token of Trust app and review your License & API and setup status. Confirm that your Token of Trust account and license are connected correctly.
If the Setup Health Check identifies a problem, re-run the check before testing again.
An order does not show a verification status
Token of Trust uses an order webhook to reconcile verification and write the verification result to the order.
Run the Setup Health Check to confirm that the required webhook is configured correctly. If the problem continues, contact Token of Trust Support.
What should I do with a Not Cleared result?
Not Cleared means that verification ran but the configured verification conditions were not met.
Follow your organization's process for handling orders that do not meet your verification requirements. If the result appears unexpected, contact Token of Trust Support with the affected order information.
Frequently asked questions
How do I add age verification to BigCommerce?
Install Token of Trust Identity & Age Verification, complete the guided account setup, choose Age Verification, and configure checkout verification. Once verification is activated and enabled for checkout, Token of Trust can run your configured age verification workflow as part of the customer journey.
Can I verify customer identity on BigCommerce?
Yes. Token of Trust provides an Identity/KYC option for BigCommerce merchants that need to verify customer identity. A government-issued ID can be used as part of the identity verification process, with additional verification options available based on your needs.
What is the difference between age verification and an age gate?
An age gate generally asks a visitor to state or confirm their age before accessing a site or content. Token of Trust's Age Verification workflow is designed to verify whether a customer meets an age requirement using the configured verification process rather than relying only on a visitor's age declaration.
Does verification happen before or after checkout?
Token of Trust supports both. Pre-checkout verification runs as the customer proceeds through checkout. Post-checkout verification runs after the order has been placed, on the order confirmation page.
Where can I see the verification result?
Token of Trust writes a VerificationStatus metafield under the tot namespace to the associated BigCommerce order. Outcomes include Cleared, Not Cleared, Verification Not Required, and Not Required.
What does Cleared mean?
Cleared means the configured Token of Trust verification conditions were met. It describes the outcome of the Token of Trust verification workflow and should not be interpreted as a determination that every legal or regulatory requirement applicable to an order has been satisfied.
Does Token of Trust store customer identity information on the BigCommerce order?
The Token of Trust verification status written to the BigCommerce order contains the verification outcome, not the underlying shopper identity information. Customer information needed to perform verification is transmitted to Token of Trust as part of the verification process.
Does Token of Trust work with customized BigCommerce checkouts?
The current integration is designed for BigCommerce Optimized One-Page Checkout. Heavily customized checkout implementations may require additional configuration.
Get support
If verification is not working as expected, review your connection and Setup Health status first.
When contacting support about a specific issue, include the affected store, order ID, approximate time of the issue, and any setup-status or error information available. These details can help the Token of Trust team investigate the issue more efficiently.
Contact Token of Trust Support at support@tokenoftrust.com for assistance.