Costco tests membership card scanners at store entrances

SEATTLE — Costco is testing membership card scanners at the entrance of select stores in its home state of Washington.

The scanners will expand to locations outside of Washington, though there is no specific time frame for the duration of these limited tests, Costco’s executive vice president Patrick Callans said in an email Tuesday.

The machines scan the bar code on the back of the membership card, showing the membership record, including photo and status, Callans said.

Currently, employees check membership cards by hand at the store’s entrance and at checkout. According to the company’s website, since expanding its self-checkout, it has noticed nonmembers have been using cards that don’t belong to them.

Costco offers memberships ranging between $60 and $120, which can be shared by up to two people from the same household. Members are allowed to bring children and up to two guests with them into the warehouses, but only members can buy items, according to company policy.

It’s a matter of when, not if, membership costs will increase, Costco finance chief Richard Galanti said during the company’s first-quarter earnings call in December. In the quarter, Costco’s membership fee revenue increased 8% compared to the same period last year because of “new member sign-ups, upgrades to Executive Membership and a higher renewal rate.”

Costco had 72 million paid household members at the end of November, up 7.6% compared to the prior year, and nearly 130 million cardholders, an increase of 7.1%.

The company will hold its annual shareholders meeting Thursday, presided for the first time by new CEO Ron Vachris. On Jan. 1, Vachris took over from longtime CEO Craig Jelinek.

Vachris started his four-decade tenure at Costco as a forklift driver and had been the company’s president and chief operating officer until Jelinek stepped down.