Missouri retailers are bracing for change after President Trump’s announcement to stop producing the penny.
But Jackson Hataway, President and CEO of the Missouri Bankers Association said not to panic just yet: “There are still plenty of pennies out there.”
“There are about 250 billion pennies in circulation, and you know that banks and grocers and retailers will continue to accept them as long as they are coming in,” said Hataway. “The problem is we don’t know where they are. And so, the need for them has quickly kind of jumped past in some areas where you have supply available.”
While some stores are struggling to get pennies, Hataway told Missourinet it’s not a shortage— “It’s more about accessibility.”
“Certain Fed distribution points are shutting down their ability to service the penny,” Hataway said.
But we’re also hearing the retailers, the grocers, they’re really helping to drive how this all happens.
So, whether that’s through electronic transactions or rounding quickly to make it easier to deal with it, I think that’s the kind of path that we’re seeing in these areas that are to some degree experiencing a slowdown in penny availability.”
The Missouri Bankers Association is urging support for the Common Cents Act. —a bill designed to smooth the transition.
Hataway said the bill does the phased-out transitioning for everyone.
“The rules of the road for banks, for retailers and merchants, and helps the federal government deal with the supply chain concerns that have popped up around penny distribution,” said Hataway. “I would encourage everyone to contact their member of Congress and ask them to get on board with the Commonsense Act.”
Some worry it’s a step toward a cashless future.
But Hataway told Missourinet that’s not the case as there appears to be no interest in going to a cashless system.
“It is isolated to the penny,” said Hataway. “So, it’s really about four cents to produce and distribute each single penny. So, every time we produce a penny, we’re producing it at a loss. So, there are all of these pennies and couches and in chairs and in those jars that are just sitting out there. And we need to get them circulating to kind of ease the transition through as we move away from the penny.”
To help ease penny supply concerns, Hataway suggests using debit cards or bringing in spare pennies to banks or local stores to cash them in.
Copyright © 2025 · Missourinet