The U.S. treasury placed its final order of penny blanks in May 2025, following President Donald Trump’s announcement to cease production of the penny as a cost-saving measure. Once those blanks were stamped, penny production would cease, and, in August 2025, the Federal Reserve suspended the first of its 165-coin distribution terminals for penny services. The number of suspended distribution sites has ballooned since then, and retailers, banks and other businesses that rely on pennies have reported shortages across the country.
When banks can’t get pennies from the federal government, businesses can’t get pennies from the banks. As a result, many are struggling to produce exact change and have received no guidance from the federal government on how to handle this shift in cash transactions.
The most practical solution for retailers is to round cash transactions up or down to the nearest five cents. For example, a $10.57 cash transaction might be rounded down to $10.55, while a $10.58 cash purchase could be rounded up to $10.60.
The current lack of federal guidance on how retailers should handle cash transactions without pennies has created an environment of uncertainty around what is permissible under federal, state and local law. This has led to many retailers implanting policies to always round cash transactions in the customers’ favor, losing up to four cents per transaction. While that might not seem like much, the extra change adds up over tens of thousands of transactions. The lack of federal guidance also exposes retailers and stores to legal and compliance risks tied to rounding practices. In some states and cities, it is illegal to round cash transactions because doing so violates laws requiring equal treatment between cash customers and those using other forms of tender.
Federal programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program have similar equal treatment requirements. SNAP-authorized retailers would be in violation of the program’s requirements by rounding cash transactions and treating SNAP beneficiaries differently by charging different prices for rounded cash customers. Other considerations around cash checking and sales tax implications also need to be addressed.
Without preemptive federal guidance, retailers and other cash-accepting businesses are exposed to legal risks simply for implementing necessary practices to manage the nationwide penny shortage.
NRF remains in close contact with the administration and Congress to emphasize the need for swift action that provides the necessary guidance for retailers to adapt to low penny inventories.
A recent survey of NRF members found that retailers are taking a variety of actions to mitigate shortage issues and continue serving cash-paying customers. While responses to the penny shortage vary based on location, customer demographics and severity of inventory issues, retailers are aligned on one key point: the need for federal guidance.
To that end, NRF is working with bill sponsors of the Common Cents Act (H.R. 3074/S. 1525) to ensure needed provisions, such as federal preemption of state cash laws, rounding guidance, and SNAP/EBT considerations are included in the legislation. NRF also recently sent a joint merchant trade association letter to the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees, urging for swift action on the matter. NRF will continue to advocate for broad solutions that provide retailers with flexibility in their response to shortage issues, as well as protections from the multitude of litigation risks concerning rounding policies.
