>Costco controls the kind of shopper that shows up by tying a credit card (ie a credit check) to membership. Sure you don’t have to pay with a credit card, but

>Costco controls the kind of shopper that shows up by tying a credit card (ie a credit check) to membership. Sure you don’t have to pay with a credit card, but you need to qualify for a good one to shop there. I don't follow this logic at all. They take Amex and debit cards in the UK - so no Mastercard/Visa credit cards but debits are fine. They also take cash. So, why do you need to be able to qualify for an Amex (the only CC they accept) to shop there? Everyone has a debit card. They're not doing a credit check when you sign up as a member - they don't extend you a line of credit when you shop in their stores as a consumer.