Overview
- McDonald’s says certain locations may round cash totals up or down to the nearest five cents due to local penny shortages, with card and app payments unchanged.
- Kroger stores have posted notices asking for exact change and Kwik Trip has begun rounding cash purchases, reflecting uneven policies as coins grow harder to source.
- Stores applying rounding generally use a nearest‑nickel rule in which totals ending in 1–2 or 6–7 cents round down and 3–4 or 8–9 cents round up.
- The Treasury stopped ordering new pennies after a directive from President Trump, and the Mint says each coin costs about 3.7 cents to make, contributing to an $85.3 million FY2024 loss on penny production.
- Pennies remain legal tender and retailers urge customers to use existing coins, while the American Bankers Association argues the issue is circulation patterns rather than an absolute shortage, and RILA is pressing Congress for a uniform standard.