Making cents: the death of the penny
The U.S. penny is no longer in production. What does it mean for your business?
On November 12, 2025, the U.S. Treasury minted pennies for the last time. The cost of producing a penny was 3.69 cents per coin, a net loss for the United States Mint.1 The penny is still legal tender, but no new pennies are entering circulation. Will your business be affected?
The role of the penny
For 232 years, the penny has played a key role in the growth of the U.S. economy. Today, the penny’s value is largely sentimental. Many of the 300 billion pennies still in circulation aren’t spent, instead spending time in piggy banks, tip jars, and car cupholders. This penny shortage leaves businesses struggling to provide exact change in cash transactions.
Penny-less pricing
In an increasingly digital landscape, cash still accounts for 14% of all consumer payments in the U.S.2 As pennies become a thing of the past, businesses must decide what payment options make financial sense without deterring customers. Requiring exact change and encouraging digital payments is a simple approach but excludes customers who don’t have a digital payment method or exact change. Rounding cash transactions to the nearest nickel requires either the customer or your business to absorb a small loss. For individual customers, rounding is a matter of just a few pennies, but businesses can lose a significant amount of revenue from multiple rounded transactions. You’ll also need to consider any state or local guidelines around pricing variations.3
Digital payments & tools
The U.S. Treasury and other departments have yet to release guidelines for the shifting state of cash transactions, so businesses are creating their own policies for now. Many businesses are choosing not to make immediate changes and are instead:
- Encouraging card payments
- Requesting exact change when possible
- Posting updated policies at the register
- Connecting with a banking specialist to explore additional solutions
Digital and credit card payments may present their own challenges like technical issues and fraud, but these payments make up most transactions in the United States. First Financial Bank has digital solutions to help you simplify and protect your payment processes.
Have questions about how the penny affects your business or want to streamline digital transactions? Reach out to your banking specialist or stop by your local First Financial Bank branch.