Costco app update lets members pay with any Visa card easier

Costco has widened its digital wallet so members can use any Visa card, including the Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi, at fuel stations, the Costco Pharmacy and warehouse registers. The change moved the app beyond a simple membership display and into the payment flow that front-end assistants, supervisors and warehouse managers deal with every day.

The company’s app help pages say Visa cards added to the Digital Membership Card can be used at registers inside U.S. Costco warehouses, including Puerto Rico. Costco’s customer-service materials say the digital membership card can also pull up warehouse inventory and pricing, local gasoline prices, contact information, hours and other location-specific details. In practice, that means members can walk in already looking at item numbers, fuel prices and store hours before they ever reach the front end.

That shift could cut down on some of the routine payment friction that slows checkout during busy periods. Costco’s July 2026 Connection framed the update as a way to speed checkout, and the company’s payment materials say the digital wallet feature is meant to make checkout fast and easy. For workers, though, the same update can create a new set of questions when members have not updated the app, have not added a card correctly or expect the wallet to work without an active connection.

Costco’s payment FAQ says members must be connected to the internet when adding their Visa card and that the payment token has to refresh online for the digital card to keep working as payment. That is the kind of detail that can turn into a service desk or register problem fast, especially for members trying the feature for the first time. The company also says U.S. warehouse locations accept all Visa cards and mobile payments through Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay, while pharmacy departments accept Visa or Mastercard debit cards.

The Costco mobile app listing says the app includes a digital membership card feature and is designed to help members save time and money. On the floor, that means the app is doing more than carrying a membership barcode. It is becoming part of the warehouse’s operating rhythm, with checkout, fuel, pharmacy and membership questions all moving closer together on the same screen.