Business owners across the country are asking everyone to spend their spare change. With more folks shifting to using credit and debit cards in stores, there are fewer coins in circulation. In response, trade associations that represent individual businesses are hoping to convince Americans to get coins back in circulation as once again there is a shortage of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters.
The American Bankers Association, National Association of Convenience Stores, and National Grocers Association have asked the Treasury Department to launch a new public campaign to try to persuade people to use their coins when out at the store to help increase coin circulation. A similar effort was made back in the Summer of 2020 when the pandemic caused a shift from cash to plastic.
The groups sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen saying they hope to “meet the demand for coins and ultimately help consumers who rely on cash transactions in their daily lives.”
The letter said the “consequences of a coin circulation slowdown fall hardest on consumers that do not have the ability to pay electronically. If retailers are not able to offer change for cash purchases consumers who rely on cash will be vulnerable.”
So empty out that piggy bank and help ease what some are calling the great coin shortage of 2022.
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