Costco recently began testing a new system at select stores that requires shoppers to scan their membership cards before entering the stores in a move to crack down on card-sharing, according to media reports.
Rather than showing your card to a warehouse employee so you can shop, you'll run into testing card scanners at select locations, according to a recent CNN Business report.
The stores testing scanners are located in Issaquah, Washington; Sterling, Virginia; and West Plano, Texas, according to a January 18 Axios report. The scanners are already being used at U.K. warehouses, this report added.
Costco did not respond to requests for comment.
According to both reports, Costco said the move came after seeing an uptick in non-members entering stores with cards that do not belong to them and checking out at self-checkout kiosks. Costco said that the scanners speed up the checkout process.
The move follows similar moves by Netflix and Disney, each of which began to crack down on password-sharing last year.
Membership prices could increase soon
On Costco’s latest quarterly earnings call, Chief Financial Officer Richard Galanti responded to a question about whether the company had near-term plans for a membership price hike by saying it was “a question of when, not if.”
Costco has two levels of membership: Gold Star, which cost $60 annually; and Executive, which will run you $120 annually.
Of gold bars, healthcare and hot dogs
In the last year, Costco has expanded its offerings in various sectors. For example, you can buy gold bars at Costco as of early last year. In September, Costco partnered with healthcare marketplace Sesame to offer outpatient healthcare services starting at $29.
More recently, Costco Auto Program announced a limited-time deal to provide a $1,000 discount for the purchase or lease of selected new models of Cadillac vehicles.
Meanwhile, the price of the company's famous hot dog and soda combo has remained at $1.50 since its introduction in 1984.
