Less pennies, more problems: Why retailers are pleading for exact change

"If you pay in cash, your change will be rounded up to the nearest nickel and may not match the amount you see on the receipt,"

"When they don't have pennies, rounding comes into place,"

"Customers always receive equal or greater change than owed,"

"Due to a penny shortage, we would appreciate exact change"

Retailers nationwide are posting checkout signs notifying customers that pennies are unavailable and outlining responses such as requesting exact change or rounding cash transactions. The U.S. Mint struck the last pennies for public use in November 2025, while Congress has not enacted rules for making change without pennies. Individual stores and chains like AutoZone, Whole Foods, and Panera are implementing location-specific policies, including rounding to the nearest nickel or dime or asking for exact change. Retailers report that customers receive equal or greater change when rounding is applied and that some locations still accept pennies from customers who have them.

Read at Business Insider