In April 2025, Sam’s Club CEO Chris Nicholas confirmed what shoppers had been hearing for months: the wholesale chain is phasing out plastic membership cards and moving entirely to its mobile app. By the end of 2025, all 600+ U.S. clubs will have replaced staffed checkouts, self-checkout lanes, and physical card scanners with a mobile-first model anchored by Scan & Go and AI-powered exit arches. The Sam’s Club mobile app is no longer a convenience feature — it’s the membership itself.
Sam’s Club Mobile App Replaces Physical Cards: What Actually Changed in 2025
The transition is more than a soft push. Sam’s Club has stopped issuing new plastic cards in many clubs and now directs members to the app for verification, payment, and rewards access. In stores where physical cards are still available at the Member Services desk, they’re treated as a backup — not the default.
Three structural changes are driving the shift:
- End of traditional checkouts: Sam’s Club is removing all manned and self-checkout lanes across its ~600 clubs by December 2025, replacing them with AI exit arches that scan the cart automatically as members leave.
- App-mandatory entry: Membership verification at the door now happens through the digital card inside the Sam’s Club mobile app. Members without the app are redirected to the Member Services desk, where a government ID and membership number can still grant access.
- Closed-loop digital payments: Scan & Go consolidates browsing, payment, and the digital receipt into the app, eliminating the card swipe step entirely.
This is the same logic driving broader retail automation, in line with the wider shift covered in our analysis of AI-enabled digital transformation.
How the Sam’s Club Mobile App Works: Scan & Go, Digital Card, and Receipts
The Sam’s Club mobile app is available free on the Apple App Store and Google Play. Once installed, a single login activates the digital membership card and unlocks four core functions members rely on inside the store.
- Scan & Go checkout: Scan each item’s barcode as it goes in the cart, pay directly from the phone, then show a QR-coded digital receipt to an associate at the exit. Sam’s Club reports the flow reduces exit time by roughly 23% versus a traditional register.
- Digital membership card: Replaces the plastic card entirely. Available offline once loaded, so a temporary lack of connection inside a club doesn’t block access.
- Instant Savings + Scan & Go-only deals: Promotions auto-apply when scanning. Yellow banners inside the app flag in-club discounts exclusive to mobile checkout.
- Digital receipts and returns: All purchase history sits under Account → Purchase History. Returns at the Member Services desk are processed directly from the digital receipt.
One technical caveat: Scan & Go is not supported on tablets or any device with a screen larger than 600 dpi. A phone is required.
Why Sam’s Club Eliminated Physical Cards: The Real Reasons
The customer-facing narrative is convenience. The internal numbers tell a different story. Sam’s Club’s own data shows that digital-first members are dramatically more valuable than card-only ones:
- Digital members shop 3× more often than non-digital members.
- They buy from 2× as many product categories.
- Their renewal rate is 10 percentage points higher.
- Scan & Go Net Promoter Score sits above 90, an extraordinary number for any retail experience.
- About 30% of U.S. adults used Scan & Go in the past six months, climbing to ~50% among Gen Z shoppers.
There’s also a second motive Sam’s Club has been more direct about: combating unauthorized membership sharing. Plastic cards are easily handed off between friends and family. A phone, with biometric login and a member-tied account, is much harder to pass around. The mobile-only model effectively closes a loophole that costs the chain real revenue every year.
The retail media angle matters too. Through its Member Access Platform (MAP), Sam’s Club now serves display ads inside the Scan & Go cart — making it the first retail media platform to integrate ads into a mobile, self-checkout app. Every scan is a measurable ad surface, which is impossible with a plastic card.
No Smartphone? Here’s What Sam’s Club Actually Allows
Despite the digital-first messaging, members without smartphones aren’t locked out — yet. According to Sam’s Club’s official help documentation, anyone arriving without the app can still enter the club by providing their membership number and a government-issued ID at the Member Services desk. Some clubs continue to issue temporary or replacement physical cards when stock allows.
That fallback exists, but it’s clearly transitional. Members in the following situations should plan accordingly:
- No smartphone: Bring photo ID and your membership number every visit. Expect longer waits at Member Services as the desk becomes the only manned counter in many clubs.
- Phone with weak signal inside the club: Open the app before entering. The digital card caches offline; Scan & Go payments do not.
- Low battery: A power bank is now effectively part of a Sam’s Club shopping trip for heavy users.
- Elderly or low-tech members: The Sam’s Club app is usable but not optimized for first-time mobile users. Family-assisted setup is the realistic path.
The tension between digital efficiency and inclusive access is genuine, and mirrors the broader patterns covered in our piece on socio-technical shifts in digital adoption.
Sam’s Club Mobile App vs Costco, Walmart, BJ’s: Membership Access Compared
Sam’s Club has moved fastest, but it’s not alone. Here’s how the major U.S. membership and big-box players actually handle access in late 2025.
| Retailer | Membership Access | In-Store Checkout | Annual Fee (Base) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sam’s Club | Mobile app exclusive; ID + member number as backup | Scan & Go + AI exit arches (no traditional registers by end-2025) | $50 (Club) / $110 (Plus) |
| Costco | Physical card + optional digital card in app | Staffed registers + self-checkout | $65 (Gold Star) / $130 (Executive) |
| BJ’s Wholesale | Physical card + digital card in app; ExpressPay mobile checkout | Staffed registers + self-checkout + ExpressPay | $55 (Club) / $110 (Club+) |
| Walmart | No membership required (Walmart+ optional) | Staffed + self-checkout + Walmart+ Scan & Go in select stores | $98/year for Walmart+ |
| Amazon | Account-based; no physical card | Just Walk Out tech in select stores; digital-native everywhere | $139/year for Prime |
Costco remains the conservative counterpoint. As of late 2025, Costco still requires a physical card or photo ID at the entrance for most members, though it has been quietly expanding digital card functionality in its app. BJ’s Wholesale sits in the middle with full app/card parity. Walmart, Sam’s Club’s parent company, has used Sam’s as the proving ground for technology that may eventually reach the larger chain.
How to Get Ready for the Sam’s Club Mobile App Transition
For members who haven’t made the switch yet, the practical checklist is short.
- Download the Sam’s Club app: Available on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
- Log in with your existing membership: The digital card activates automatically once the account is linked.
- Add a payment method: Required for Scan & Go. The app accepts the Sam’s Club Mastercard, major credit cards, debit cards, EBT (yes, EBT works at all clubs for Scan & Go), and Sam’s Cash.
- Test Scan & Go on a low-stakes trip first: Item lookup, barcode scanning, and the QR-coded exit receipt take 5 minutes to get used to.
- Bring a power bank for long trips: A dead phone in 2026 is now equivalent to a lost wallet in 2015.
This kind of friction reduction at point of sale is exactly the trend covered in our overview of modern mobile payment technology — and Sam’s Club is one of the most aggressive U.S. implementations to date.
What This Means for Sam’s Club Members in 2026
The short version: the Sam’s Club mobile app is now the membership. Members who adopt it gain meaningful speed advantages, exclusive promotions, and access to features that simply don’t exist on the plastic-card path. Members who resist will increasingly find themselves at the Member Services desk, in a queue, while the rest of the club walks straight through the exit arches.
The model has implications well beyond Sam’s Club. Walmart is watching the data closely, and if the renewal and basket-size numbers hold, the same playbook will likely roll out across other Walmart-owned formats. Costco, BJ’s, and the regional warehouse chains will have to respond — and the compliance and accessibility questions surrounding mandatory mobile-only retail will only get sharper, as we explored in recent compliance and AI-era challenges.
For now, the message from Sam’s Club is unambiguous: bring the phone, or expect a slower trip.
FAQ: Sam’s Club Mobile App and Digital Membership
Can I still use a physical card at Sam’s Club in 2026?
In most clubs, physical cards are no longer issued by default, but existing cards may still be accepted at the door. The Member Services desk remains the official fallback when the app is unavailable, using your membership number plus a government-issued ID.
Is the Sam’s Club mobile app free?
Yes. The app is free on iOS and Android. The Sam’s Club membership itself costs $50/year (Club) or $110/year (Plus) and is required to use most app features.
Does Scan & Go accept EBT?
Yes. Scan & Go accepts EBT cards at all Sam’s Club locations, alongside Sam’s Cash, credit, and debit cards.
What happens if my phone dies inside the club?
Head to the Member Services desk with your membership number and ID to complete the purchase manually. Charging stations are not standard in clubs yet, so a personal power bank is recommended for long shopping trips.
Will Costco also eliminate physical cards?
Costco has expanded digital card support in its app but has not announced a phase-out of physical cards as of late 2025. Costco’s policy continues to require ID verification at the entrance, and the chain has historically been slower to digitize than Sam’s Club.
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