To keep nonmembers out, Costco turns to scanners and photo IDs

It’s going to get harder for Costco shoppers to share their membership cards.

Costco will soon require all customers to scan the bar code or QR code associated with their membership cards at store entrances, the retailer said in a statement on its website. Anyone entering a Costco store will need to be accompanied by a valid member, the company added.

Members with cards that don’t have photos will also be asked to show a valid photo ID when they enter. Costco said workers will be at store entrances to help shoppers navigate the new scanners.

Costco on Friday said it had nothing to add beyond its online post.

The company has long required shoppers to flash their cards when they enter a store, but its new policy will make scanning mandatory. Costco, which began testing card scanners at several locations earlier this year, launched a broad effort to curb membership-sharing after executives noted an increase in nonmembers shopping with other people’s cards after expanding self-checkout options.

“We don’t feel it’s right that non-members receive the same benefits and pricing as our members,” the company told The Post in June 2023.

Last year, Costco announced plans to add more staff to self-checkout areas to stop nonmembers from using borrowed cards. The company also requires shoppers to show their membership cards at all checkout registers.

Costco’s official policy always limited the company’s $1.50 hot-dog-and-soda deal to members only, but the rule was rarely enforced until earlier this year.

Some shoppers railed against Costco’s new card scanners on social media this week, complaining that the initiative is redundant because the company already verifies memberships at check-out. Some people online also expressed fears about longer lines at the entrance as people learn to use the scanners.

The crackdown comes after Costco announced in June that it would raise its membership fee for the first time in seven years. On Sept. 1, annual membership prices will increase by $5 for Costco Gold Star, Business and Business add-on members and $10 for Executive members.

Costco, one of the largest shopping clubs in the world, had around 71 million membership accounts and 128 million cardholders at the end of 2023. Membership fees generated $4.6 billion in revenue for Costco in 2023, an 8% increase from 2022.