With no national rule, stores are quietly making their own penny policies, often varying by location
More fast-food, convenience, and travel stop chains are rounding cash totals to the nearest nickel when pennies aren’t available
Big retailers and grocers are doing it too, often rounding in the customer’s favor—but they rarely spell it out
As pennies disappear from circulation, retailers are quietly adapting in different ways.
Part of the confusion among shoppers is there’s no national policy and no official list of who’s doing what. This means rounding is rolling out store by store, chain by chain, and sometimes even location by location.
In practice, that means a McDonald’s in one city may round your change to the nearest nickel, while the one across town still hands you exact coins.
Fast-food, convenience stores, travel stops, and even major grocers are starting to round cash transactions when pennies aren’t available.
Here are the places where it’s already happening and how it could affect you.
Fast-food chains
McDonald’s
Mickey D’s confirmed it’s rounding cash payments to the nearest 5¢ at many locations because of the penny shortage.
Only applies to cash; card/app totals still go to the exact cent.
Taco Bell
Many Taco Bell locations have posted signs saying that, when pennies aren’t available, cash change will be rounded up or down to the nearest 5¢.
Wendy’s
Wendy’s has also started rounding for cash orders.
Corporate guidance is to round down where possible, to keep it in the customer’s favor.
Burger King
Industry reporting says some Burger King locations are rounding up or down on cash change as pennies disappear.
GoTo Foods brands (Auntie Anne’s, Cinnabon, Jamba)
Their parent company is telling franchisees to round to the nearest nickel, ideally in the customer’s favor, when they can’t make exact penny change.
Convenience & travel stops
Sheetz
Sheetz put up signs asking customers to pay cashless when possible and “consider rounding up” purchases because of the penny shortage.
Reporting says Sheetz may round cash totals to the nearest nickel in customers’ favor at some locations and is also doing “round-up” charity donations.
Love’s Travel Stops
Love’s says penny shortages are hitting a number of its stores; in those locations Love’s is rounding cash purchases in favor of the customer (i.e., frequently rounding down).
Kwik Trip
Kwik Trip confirmed it is always rounding down on cash transactions where pennies aren’t available to avoid running afoul of “cash discrimination” laws.
Estimates this rounding-down policy will cost the chain about $3 million a year.
Grocers / big retail
Kroger
A Houston shopper spotted a “penny rounding” line on a Kroger receipt, and the company confirmed it’s adjusting how it handles cash when pennies aren’t available.
Kroger told local media it’s still accepting pennies and “assessing the impact” of the mint’s decision; details suggest rounding is already showing up at least in some Texas stores.
ShopRite
The folks at ShopRite actually have a page on their website dedicated to this change with their official policy. It breaks down like this:
- If the change due ends in 1 or 2 cents, round down to the nearest nickel.
- If the change due ends in 3 or 4 cents, round up to the nearest nickel.
- If the change due ends in 6 or 7 cents, round down to the nearest nickel.
- If the change due ends in 8 or 9 cents, round up to the nearest dime.
“Many of the nation’s largest retailers”
A survey by the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA) of 25 major chains (members include Academy, H-E-B, Home Depot, Target, etc.) found:
- Over 1000+ locations per chain are already out of pennies in some cases.
- About two-thirds of the big retailers named are now rounding cash transactions in the customer’s favor when they don’t have pennies in the till.
- They don’t list every company by name, but it’s clear this is happening across big-box, grocery, and specialty stores, and not limited to just fast food.