KROGER, a popular grocery store chain, has introduced a new payment policy that might make paying for groceries harder for shoppers.
Kroger joins a few other retailers in addressing the penny shortage that will hit the U.S. once the coin is phased out of use.
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Kroger is not the only company to address the penny problems
Notices have been popping up at self-checkout stations in Kroger locations, advising shoppers on how to handle cash transactions.
“The U.S. Treasury has stopped production of pennies, which is now impacting supply,” the notice said, according to photos obtained by Local 12.
“If using cash for payment, please consider providing exact change.”
A Kroger spokesperson told the outlet that the chain will “continue to assess the impact of the U.S. Treasury’s decision to end penny production.”
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“If using cash for payment, we kindly ask customers to consider providing exact change. Kroger will continue to accept pennies for payment,” the spokesperson said.
Kroger did not immediately respond to The U.S. Sun’s inquiry.
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The U.S. government previously announced plans to end the production of pennies by early 2026.
This leaves retailers scrambling to implement new rules for cash transactions once the coin is out of circulation.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury decided to end penny production after reporting a loss of $85.3 million in 2024 from minting over three billion new pennies.
Kroger is not the only company to address the penny problems. Convenience stores like Kwik Trip and Sheetz have also issued advisories to customers as pennies will soon vanish.
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One Sheetz customer shared a photo on Facebook of a sign hung at their local store saying the location was “short on change.”
The convenience store asked customers to consider making cashless payments with debit and credit cards or by ordering on the store’s mobile app.
Customers were also given the option to round up their purchases to support charity.
Sheetz offered an extra incentive, allowing customers to bring in $1 worth of pennies in exchange for a self-serve drink. It’s unclear if the deal was only for that specific location.
Kwik Trip, another convenience store with over 900 locations, unveiled a penny policy in a press release obtained by The U.S. Sun.
End of Penny Production
Kroger joins other retailers like Kwik Trip and Sheetz in adopting new policies due to the impending penny shortage. But what does the end of penny production mean?
The Treasury Department placed its final order of blank pennies around May 2025 and planned to stop minting the coins.
Officials expect the end of production to result in savings of $56 million a year as a penny costs nearly four cents to produce.
The U.S. is not the first country to eliminate its one-cent coins. Canada, Australia and New Zealand have phased out their coins.
The nickel will become the smallest denomination once pennies are phased out.
However, it costs more to produce nickels than pennies which could result in other losses.
Each nickel costs roughly 13.8 cents to make.
Sources: NPR and The Tennessean
“All cash purchases at Kwik Trip and Kwik Star locations will be rounded down to the nearest five cents,” the company said.
The “guest-friendly” decision to round down came as “the government has not provided guidance on how to proceed,” Kwik Trip said.
The press release noted that Kwik Trip’s registers would automatically apply the rounding rule to all cash transactions.
Another convenience store, Love’s Travel Stops, started rounding customers’ purchases across some locations
“At this time, only around 50 of Love’s more than 660 locations in 42 states are impacted,” Ulysses Ochoa, the director of operations at Love’s Travel Stops, told Oklahoma outlet KFOR.
“If a store runs out of pennies, all change will be rounded up in favor of the customer,” Ochoa added.
RETAIL ROUNDING
The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond (FRBR) explained that other businesses could likely implement a “rounding tax,” but it may not always be in favor of the customer.
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“If transaction amounts are skewed toward values that round up, consumers end up consistently paying more, creating what’s referred to as a rounding tax,” the FRBR explained.
The FRBR estimated that if companies round up prices, it could cost consumers roughly $6 million a year.