[infecto]

Couldn't the POS pull up your picture when they scan the card? No idea if they do or not but would make sense.

There definitely is savings but I think you are reading it the wrong way. The ultimate goal here is to prevent people from using someone else's card. Costco makes all their money from the annual membership dues. I suspect they have tested this and there is savings with doing proper checks at store entry and saving the hassle of carts full of goods when denied at checkout. Ultimately driving more memberships.

[al_borland]

My picture is on my Costco card and I have to hand it to the cashier when I checkout. I’m not sure what scanning on entry does that would eliminate that step.

[infecto]

Again your thinking is backwards. It’s not about entirely eliminating secondary checks it’s about moving the primary check to store entry which I would guess increases the checks effectiveness and reduces the chance of rejecting sales at the register. And ultimately reducing those above costs and maybe driving more memberships.

Absolutely has a strong chance of savings.