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Insights and Expertise
StreetSmarts SM
Small change, big shift: Life after the penny
By Allen Kopelman possible. Twenty states do not allow pricing and
Nationwide Payment Systems Inc. sales tax to be bundled into a single total.
• Accountants: Bookkeepers are going to be
e've all heard the news: the penny has screaming, shaking their heads and pulling their
reached its end of life. Considering that it
currently costs three cents to make a one- hair out when they collect $17.90 for that $17.92
W cent penny, I guess the penny's demise was invoice. Is the missing two cents a loss? How can
inevitable, but where do we go from here? it be accounted for when doing your books and
balancing a cash drawer?
Viewing the penny's disappearance through the lens of • POS, tech providers: POS companies will have
the payments ecosystem makes me wonder who will feel to adjust devices to print both the real price and
it first and who will feel it most. rounded price on receipts. POS companies with
• Consumers: Customers do not want to pay for terminals that display cash prices will have to
the lack of pennies. People are weighing in on figure out what to do. I am sure that POS companies
are already considering how to handle this, and
social media about the penny's demise, advising
businesses to round down rather than round out most will look at regulations and compliance before
investing in development.
purchases.
• ISOs and agents: At some point the industry will
One man on TikTok claimed he was shorted, have to come up with a standard, but this may
demanding a rounded down receipt, warning the
merchant that lawsuits are coming. Merchants
transitioning to a penny-less world shouldn't
balance transactions on their customers' backs. It's anyone's guess how regulators
will structure the new rules for
• Merchants: Business owners will have to place
signage in their stores to explain the new pricing managing money.
schemes. I've seen some go around collecting
pennies and others trying to re-price inventories, These days, when I hand over cash,
which will not really work because pennies will I am not always confident that the
still appear when sales tax and tips are added.
clerk at the register will know
With nine states and seven cities already requiring how to make change.
merchants to accept cash, and more likely to join,
operating as a cashless business isn't always
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