MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – A coin worth one cent is creating a big problem for businesses amid a shortage of pennies. Earlier this year, the U.S. Treasury Department paused the production of the penny, with the U.S. Mint citing the high cost to produce the penny at almost four cents per coin.
Several companies have adjusted their own practices around the penny to adjust for fewer pennies in circulation.
Businesses are posting signs that say they are rounding up and down to the nearest nickel, and they’re only going to become more common.(kait)
Local financial institutions are noticing the change in change from businesses and customers.
At UW Credit Union, Chris Frey said his branch is ordering and processing fewer pennies each year.
“The vast majority of our younger members and our students are using digital methods,” said Frey. “We’re definitely seeing them getting less and less pennies from us and we’re processing end-of-day pennies more and more knowing that they won’t come back to fill the drawers.”
For Frey and his staff, the trend to more digital payments means adapting what type of resources are available to UW Credit Union members.
“We’re having to come up with new forms of digital payment methods and work with different vendors and processors as well to make sure our systems work with theirs,” said Frey.
In October, Kwik Trip announced its new penny policy rounding down cash transactions to the nearest five cents. More recently, McDonald’s changed its policy to round up or down to the nearest five cents for customers paying in cash that do not have exact change.
Kroger, who owns Metro Market and Pick N’ Save stores, is still accepting pennies for payment but is asking customers to bring exact change or pay digitally.
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