Some businesses asking customers to round up totals
That jar full of coins sitting on top of the dresser has become more prized since the COVID-19 pandemic hit West Virginia back in March.
Throughout the Morgantown area, merchants have signs posted asking customers who pay for their goods in cash to round up to the nearest dollar with the excess change going to in-house charities such as Sheetz for the Kids, or Kroger’s Zero Hunger|Zero Waste Foundation, which supports hunger relief efforts across the communities it serves.
The reason? A nationwide coin shortage brought on by COVID-19 safety measures such as social distancing and people not spending money because of business closures.
“Currently our stores are collecting donations for the Zero Hunger|Zero Waste Foundation by allowing customers to round up their order total to the next dollar,” said Allison McGee, corporate affairs manager for Kroger Mid-Atlantic.
“For customers that choose not to donate, our cashiers will load the coin value due back through their loyalty card,” McGee said.
Federal Reserve began in mid-June rationing pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters — those are made by the U.S. Mint — to customers, such as banks and financial institutions who supply retailers like convenience stores, supermarkets and restaurants with coins. Because the pandemic shut down much of the economy, coins have not been entering the market as they normally would.
“The COVID‐19 pandemic has significantly disrupted the supply chain and normal circulation patterns for U.S. coin. In the past few months, coin deposits from depository institutions to the Federal Reserve have declined significantly and the U.S. Mint’s production of coin also decreased due to measures put in place to protect its employees,” the Federal Reserve said in its June statement.
Both mints in Philadelphia and Denver returned to full staffing levels in mid-June, The New York Times writes. The mint is scheduled to ship 1.35 billion coins every month through the rest of the year. Under normal circumstances, the number of coins shipped is closer to 1 billion a month.
Anthony Colasante, owner of Colasante’s Ristorante & Pub in Westover, said the coin shortage has not impacted his business.
“I saw it coming about three weeks ago and stocked up,” he said. “Also, about 80% of my business is credit cards.”
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