Intuit Mailchimp now supports SMS age-gating for alcohol industry businesses in most countries where SMS marketing is offered. If you run a brewery, winery, distillery, or liquor store, this is the compliance update you’ve been waiting for, age verification built directly into the SMS opt-in flow, with no third-party tools or workarounds required.
Here’s everything you need to know about how it works, who’s eligible, and how to get set up.
What Is Mailchimp SMS Age-Gating?
SMS age-gating is a built-in verification mechanism that collects a subscriber’s date of birth at the point of SMS or text message opt-in. Mailchimp automatically checks whether the contact meets the legal drinking age threshold for their country, this is determined by the area code of their phone number, and subscribes or excludes them accordingly.
This feature is required by mobile carriers for alcohol industry SMS programs, and it is now natively supported inside Mailchimp with no third-party age verification service needed.
🔒 Privacy note: Mailchimp does not store dates of birth or specific age values. Only an “eligible” or “excluded” status is retained after verification. Confirm this method is compliant in your jurisdiction before enabling.
How SMS Age-Gating Works in Mailchimp
When age-gating is enabled, Mailchimp enforces age verification across all contact ingestion paths including signup forms, imports, the API, and manual additions.
- Contacts who pass verification are added to your audience as subscribed SMS contacts.
- Contacts who fail or have a missing date of birth are added with an SMS status of non-subscribed. They can still receive emails if they have email consent.
- Age thresholds are country-specific, calculated automatically based on the phone number’s country code.
How to Enable SMS Age-Gating in Mailchimp
Age-gating must be selected during your SMS program registration. It cannot be added to an existing active SMS program.
- Navigate to SMS and click Start registration.
- On the Business information step, select Retail and consumer products as your industry.
- On the Use cases / Tell us what you’ll send step, check the box for Alcohol-related content (age-gating required).
- Review the age-gating disclosure, which explains that all new contacts must complete verification.
- Complete the remaining registration steps, including submitting your privacy policy and terms.
Once submitted, Mailchimp’s partner Infobip reviews your application and the age-gated landing page automatically generated for your program. Age verification is enforced immediately, even while your program is pending approval.
⚠️ Important: Once Mailchimp approves your age-gated SMS program, age-gating cannot be turned off and will be turned on for all sending numbers. Make sure you are fully committed before registering.
Plan Requirements and Limitations
- Eligible plans: Standard, Essentials, or Premium with an active SMS add-on.
- Availability: Only available during initial registration of a new SMS program, or for previously rejected SMS applicants. Existing active programs cannot be converted.
- Supported form types: Landing pages and pop-up forms only. All other Mailchimp form types are not available for adding SMS contacts to age-gated audiences.
- Bulk imports: Supported, but you must include a column labeled “Verification Birthdate” in your CSV or XLSX file and map it to the Age-gate field during import.
- Industry focus: Breweries, wineries, distilleries, liquor stores, and other alcohol industry businesses.
What Content Can You Send With Age-Gating?
Age-gating in Mailchimp currently supports alcohol marketing only. The following SMS content categories remain prohibited regardless of age-gating status:
- Tobacco, firearms, cannabis, vaping, or CBD
- Loans or debt collection
- Gambling
- Political content or hate speech
- Any content prohibited under Mailchimp’s standard Acceptable Use Policy
This list is not exhaustive. All standard Mailchimp content policies continue to apply to SMS messaging.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I age-gate content other than alcohol?
No. Mailchimp currently supports age-gating for alcohol-related content only. Other SHAFT content categories, including tobacco, firearms, and cannabis, are not eligible at this time.
What happens if a contact doesn’t meet the age requirement?
Mailchimp adds the contact as non-subscribed for SMS. If the contact has email consent, they can still receive email marketing from your account.
Can I turn off age-gating after it’s been set up?
No. Once Mailchimp approves your age-gated SMS program, the age gate cannot be disabled. Plan accordingly before starting your registration.
Can I import existing SMS contacts into an age-gated program?
Yes. To import contacts, your CSV or XLSX file must include a column with each contact’s date of birth. During the import process, map this column to the Age-gate field. Contacts with missing or invalid date of birth values will be added as non-subscribed for SMS.
Can I convert my existing SMS program to an age-gated one?
No. Age-gating is only available during the initial registration of a new SMS program, or for applicants whose previous program was rejected. Existing active SMS programs cannot be converted to age-gated programs.
Additional Resources
- Set Up SMS Age-Gating — Mailchimp Help Center
- Age-Gating Requirements for SMS by Country
- About SMS Marketing Compliance
- Mailchimp Acceptable Use Policy
Have questions about setting up SMS age-gating? Let’s talk!
