After more than a century in circulation, the U.S. Department of Treasury has officially announced that it will stop producing pennies in 2026. While pennies will remain legal tender, they will gradually become harder to find in everyday transactions. Here’s what this means for payments and transactions for individuals and businesses. 

What This Means for You
With the end of penny production, the Federal Reserve will no longer receive new penny supplies from the U.S. Mint. They will continue to distribute the remaining penny inventory until it’s gone, but availability will vary across regions and banks.

      Penny Availability: That means some Carthage Savings branches may continue to receive pennies for a limited time. Businesses that order coins for daily operations may start to see smaller allocations, or eventually no pennies at all.

       Rounding Transactions: Over time, fewer pennies in circulation will lead to rounding adjustments for cash transactions. This doesn’t change the value of your money or your ability to pay. It simply reflects a gradual move toward rounding to the nearest nickel when paying or giving change in cash.

     Accepting Pennies: Pennies will continue to be accepted for payments, deposits, payroll, and taxes while they remain in circulation. You may still bring in coin jars and deposit them at Carthage Savings (Carthage/Watertown), but pennies will eventually phase out nationwide. 

Tips for Consumers & Businesses

For Consumers

• You may start to notice cash transactions being rounded to the nearest nickel at some stores or service providers.
• You can continue to spend and deposit pennies, as long as they remain legal tender.
•  If you have coins saved up, this is a great time to deposit your change into your Carthage Savings account. It’s an easy way to keep those funds working for you instead of sitting idle.

For Businesses
    ·       If your business handles cash, review your cash-handling and change policies
            and determine whether rounding will impact your customer transactions or
            register systems.

• Communicate any changes in rounding or pricing to your customers clearly and consistently.
• If you rely on coin orders, prepare now for the end of penny availability by managing existing inventory

 

Carthage Savings Is Here to Help

At Carthage Savings, we’re working closely with the Federal Reserve to manage our coin inventory responsibly and help our consumer and business clients adjust smoothly. Our goal is to make this transition as simple as possible for our customers.

If you have questions about how this change may affect your business operations or personal banking, please contact Carthage Savings (315-493-3480) We’re always here to help.

As we prepare for this transition, please note these important changes for Carthage Savings customers:

       Effective Monday, November 3, 2025

·        Penny orders for commercial change orders are limited to $5 per order. Penny orders for consumer change orders will be limited to $2 per order.

·        Penny orders will be available only to existing change-order customer, while supplies last.

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