Costco puts an end to membership sharing in self-checkout line

Self-checkout at Costco is now going to require identification.

To curb the amount of membership card sharing, Costco has decided to put the same policy in the self-checkout line that is used in the regular checkout line — all shoppers must provide a driver’s license along with their membership card if they want to purchase items, reports CNN. 

Cracking down on membership sharing has been making news lately. Last month, Netflix announced it would be putting walls in place to prevent users from sharing subscriptions.

It’s perhaps not surprising that Costco is following suit, as membership fees make up a large part of the company’s business and are the reason behind why the warehouse giant can carry some of the lowest prices in the marketplace. Costco made $4.2 billion in membership fees last year, posting a 93% renewal rate.

The company also has one of the largest membership groups in the world — 66,000 paid and 119,000 cardholders — and has not increased its fees since 2017. However, Costco has been taking a hard looking at raising the cost of membership over the last few months.

“We don’t feel it’s right that non-members receive the same benefits and pricing as our members,” according to a spokesperson from Costco. The company also claims that requiring proof of membership cuts down on shoplifting.

Related:Costco chief financial officer sees signs of a recession

Cracking down on account sharing is working for Netflix. The streaming service estimated that, prior to its policy shift,more than 100 million households shared an account globally — whereas, Netflix added 100,000 new accounts on both May 26 and May 27, which is shortly after the subscription sharing policy shifted, according to CNN. In the following days, Netflix saw a 100% increase in sign-ups from the prior 60-day average.