Yesterday’s Poll:

Should Costco Require Members to Show ID?

More Poll Results:

Is Don Lemon a Good Reporter?

Will There Be 'Bedlam' in the US If Trump Loses the 2024 Election?

Should Remote Workers Finally Head Back to the Office?

Do You Support Taiwan's Independence From China?

Should Hunter Biden Be Held in Contempt of Congress?

Here’s The Scoop

Costco, the wholesale giant, is reportedly testing a digital ID scanning station at the entrance of one of its warehouses. This development was spotted by shoppers near the company’s corporate headquarters in Issaquah, Washington.

The new system requires members to scan their IDs at the station, displaying a large version of their member photo, rather than the traditional method of showing their ID to the entrance staff.

The Issaquah location is known to be a testing ground for new concepts before they are rolled out more broadly. However, Costco employees in California and Texas confirmed that their locations did not have the tech in place.

This move is seen as a small tweak that could have a large financial impact for the company. Costco began manually checking member IDs in self-checkout lanes last year, after noticing an increase in shoppers using cards that don’t belong to them.

CFO Richard Galanti stated that even a small percentage of improper ID sharing can have a significant effect when dealing with millions of transactions.

With 2.1 million new memberships added last year, and membership fees representing nearly three-quarters of Costco’s net income, tighter enforcement of its membership policy could boost the company’s revenue without raising the annual fee.