West Plano is one of three Costco Wholesale Club locations that have begun testing a new card scanning program that requires customers to scan their membership card before entering, rather than showing an employee their card, often from a distance.
While the scanners are already used in stores in the U.K., they are being tested in warehouses in Issaquah, Washington; Sterling, Virginia and West Plano.
This move comes after a crackdown last summer on card sharing at self-checkouts. According to Axios, Costco began asking to see membership cards with photos at self-service checkout registers in June of 2023. Now, card scanners aim to decrease the amount of time it takes to get through self-checkout by ensuring someone is a member before entering.
“It’s still a very small percentage, but when you have, you know, a few million transactions a day it adds up,” Richard Galanti, Costco CFO told Axios. “Many of the people are choosing to sign up there for their own membership.”
Prescription drugs and alcoholic beverages may be purchased by nonmembers as required by law, Costco’s member conditions state. Those without memberships wanting to access the pharmacy inform the door attendant of their intention to use the pharmacy, and will be allowed in per policy.
“It helps speed up the process,” Galanti told Axios. “When you go through checkout, particularly self-checkout, there’s not someone there having to review the card again.”
Costco’s West Plano warehouse is located at 1701 Dallas Parkway and is open from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
