Quick Tip: Penny phase-out only affects cash transactions

(NC)—As the Canadian one-cent coin exits circulation, shoppers will only be affected when making transactions in cash. If change is due to you and if no pennies are available, it's expected that rounding either up or down to the nearest five-cent increment will become standard practise. When that happens, business owners can turn to a federal government guideline to ensure rounding is done in a fair and transparent manner. If paying by credit card, debit card, or cheque, the exact value of the goods and services will be charged, with no need for rounding. Over time and with rising labour, metal, manufacturing and distribution costs, the penny is now worth only about one-twentieth of its original value back in 1908. Each penny now costs more than 1.6 cents to make and, once fully phased out of circulation, the federal government estimates ongoing savings to the taxpayer of $11 million a year. More information for the consumer and for business is available online at actionplan.gc.ca/penny.

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