The Right Thing: Is rounding cash transactions fair?

Is it wrong for retailers to round up or down at the cash register now that the U.S. penny is no longer being produced?

A reader we're calling Kash recently returned from a grocery store in southern Massachusetts where a sign at the register explained that, because pennies are no longer being produced, cash purchases would be rounded to the nearest five cents. Totals ending in one, two, six, or seven cents would be rounded down, while totals ending in three, four, eight, or nine cents would be rounded up. This process is known as "symmetrical rounding." Customers paying by credit card, however, would still pay the exact amount.

His grocer's policy struck Kash as odd. He's become accustomed to seeing some businesses charge more for credit card purchases than for cash purchases to offset processing fees. He observed that he might now sometimes end up paying more with cash than with a credit card. Kash asked if that seemed fair.

If Kash's grocer is using rounding on cash purchases to deal with the penny's discontinuation, the most important issue is whether his grocer makes its policy clear and applies it to all customers. Some customers are going to benefit if their totals are rounded down. Others will end up paying a few cents more if their purchases are rounded up.

In the long run, Kash can hope that the number of times his purchase price is rounded up is offset by those times it's rounded down. Or he can avoid guessing which way the purchase price will go by paying with a credit or debit card if he is able. Credit or debit transactions don't face the same challenge as cash transactions since electronic payments don't require a retailer to have pennies in the register to offer as change.

Kash's grocer's policy of adopting a symmetrical rounding system that sometimes benefits itself and sometimes benefits the customers might occasionally be annoying, but it doesn't strike me as unfair. If the rounding rules were set up so the customer always paid more, then Kash's concern about fairness might be warranted.

The grocer was wise to post clearly written signs like the one Kash saw when he got to the cash register. Kash didn't ask the cashier any questions, but the grocer should take the time to train all employees to be able to explain the rounding policy in case they are asked.

Kash joked about trying to figure out how to make purchases so that the final price would always be rounded down. I guess that's possible, but it's unlikely that customers will take the time needed to do that.

Is the rounding rule Kash faced fair? His grocer's rounding policy applies to all cash customers and is clearly posted. That strikes me as a fair response to a practical challenge rather than an attempt to squeeze more pennies out of customers.

The right thing is for Kash's grocer and other businesses to be clear and consistent in how they round cash purchases. Kash and other customers can decide whether such policies are fair. If they want to avoid having to guess whether they will gain or lose a few cents, they can either use an electronic payment method or always carry pennies with them so they can pay with exact change since pennies remain a form of legal tender.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published June 16, 2026 at 4:21 AM.