You might not give pennies much thought these days, but retailers throughout the country are—and their actions could alter how you handle even the simplest transactions. As the U.S. one-cent coin gradually disappears from use, stores are taking similar approaches at checkout, requiring you to adjust in subtle yet noticeable ways.
Signs are being placed at checkout counters in retail chains, ranging from AutoZone to Whole Foods, requesting exact change or informing customers that cash transactions may be rounded. The explanation is straightforward: pennies are growing more difficult to obtain. While the U.S. Mint produced its final batch of pennies in November, Congress has yet to approve a law that officially eliminates the coin or establishes uniform guidelines for handling cash transactions after it is no longer in circulation.
This legal gap has allowed retailers to establish their own guidelines.
“If retailers don’t have pennies, rounding becomes an issue,” Dylan Jeon, senior director of government relations at the National Retail Federation (NRF), said to Business Insider. With no federal guidelines, rounding practices—and whether rounding is even addressed—now vary depending on where you shop.
At a Whole Foods in Brooklyn, Business Insider recently noticed a sign indicating the store can no longer acquire new pennies from banks. The notice stated that if you pay with cash, your change will be rounded to the nearest nickel and might not correspond to the amount listed on your receipt. A representative from Whole Foods explained that this policy is not applied across all stores but only in areas where local banks are unable to provide pennies. Shoppers who possess pennies can still use them, and the company assures customers they will always receive change that is equal to or more than what they are due.
Other retailers are addressing the shortage in various ways. In Oklahoma, a Panera store put up a sign in late December asking for exact change or card payments because of the penny shortage, as reported by Business Insider. On Reddit, shoppers have shared images from Kroger and AutoZone stores requesting exact change without any mention of rounding.
Behind the scenes, some retailers are limiting their available pennies by maintaining smaller quantities in their registers, according to Jeon. However, the absence of a nationwide rounding policy leads to confusion—and possible irritation—for customers like you.
“If you visit a hardware store and they round numbers in one manner, then go to a clothing store where they round them differently, that might create complications,” Jeon said to Business Insider.
The NRF is urging Congress to resolve this discrepancy. The proposed Common Cents Act aims to create a federal rounding rule, rounding cash amounts to the nearest nickel. Payments that end in 1, 2, 6, or 7 cents would be rounded down; those ending in 3, 4, 8, or 9 cents would be rounded up. “It balances the rounding up and down equally,” Jeon stated. Canada implemented a comparable method in 2012 when it eliminated its penny, and the NRF highlights this system as a viable example.
Thus far, the legislation has come to a standstill. In 2025, it faced challenges such as the longest government shutdown in U.S. history and disputes regarding separate provisions impacting the nickel. The NRF states that it will keep advocating for its passage in 2026.
Until then, retailers are exposed to legal dangers. Certain states and municipalities, such as New York and Colorado, mandate that stores accept cash in order to safeguard consumers who do not have access to card payment options. Rounding practices might also contradict federal regulations that demand fair treatment for SNAP recipients, who often depend on cash, as noted by Jeon.
For the time being, the penny’s quiet departure means you should be more mindful when paying. The sums might be minor, but the change—both literal and symbolic—is already in your possession.