Store and restaurant penny rounding policies
How the big chains handle cash now that the U.S. Mint has stopped making pennies, based on company statements, official policy pages and named news reports, as of October 31, 2026.
20
Chains (plus USPS) with a documented policy
11
Round in the customer’s favor (confirmed or reported)
4
Round to the nearest nickel, up or down
0
Round card or app payments
How we label policies. Official policy page and Company statement mean the company published or said it on the record. Partial company statement means the company commented but did not describe a method. Reported, not confirmed means the policy comes from news reports or store signs, not the company. Chains with nothing citable are listed at the bottom, not guessed at.
Policies by chain
| Chain | Type | What it does with cash | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|
| Target | Retail | Reported to round change to the nearest nickel in the customer’s favor when stores run out; no company statement. | Reported, not confirmed |
| PetSmart | Retail | Temporarily asks cash customers for exact change; offers round-up to the nearest dollar for PetSmart Charities. | Company statement |
| Kroger | Grocery | Asks cash customers to consider exact change and still accepts pennies; some stores have been seen rounding. | Company statement |
| Harris Teeter | Grocery | Rounds cash totals to a nickel, always in the customer’s favor, with the adjustment shown on the receipt. | Company statement |
| Publix | Grocery | Official rounding policy: cash totals round to the nearest 5¢ (1, 2, 6, 7 down; 3, 4, 8, 9 up). | Official policy page |
| ShopRite | Grocery | Official penny policy: cash purchases rounded to the nearest five cents, up or down. | Official policy page |
| Rouses | Grocery | Once a store runs out of pennies, cash change is rounded up to the nearest nickel, always in the customer’s favor. | Company statement |
| Aldi | Grocery | Store signs say change and refunds are rounded up to the nearest five cents when pennies run out; no company statement. | Reported, not confirmed |
| Whole Foods | Grocery | Reported to round to the nearest nickel when stores run out of pennies; no company statement found. | Reported, not confirmed |
| McDonald’s | Restaurant | Some locations round cash totals to the nearest 5¢, up or down; card and app orders are exact. | Company statement |
| Wendy’s | Restaurant | Corporate guidance tells restaurants short on pennies to round cash totals down to the nearest nickel. | Company statement |
| Burger King | Restaurant | Still takes pennies but says exact change may not be possible; some stores post nearest-nickel signs. | Partial company statement |
| Dunkin’ | Restaurant | Reported to have advised franchisees to round in the customer’s favor; some stores round to the nearest nickel. | Reported, not confirmed |
| Auntie Anne’s & Cinnabon | Restaurant | Parent GoTo Foods recommends franchisees round cash transactions in the guest’s favor. | Company statement |
| Kwik Trip | Convenience / fuel | Rounds all cash purchases down to the nearest five cents as stores run out of pennies. | Company statement |
| Casey’s | Convenience / fuel | When stores lack pennies, cash transactions are rounded down to the nearest five cents in the guest’s favor. | Company statement |
| QuikTrip | Convenience / fuel | Gives exact change while coins last; otherwise rounds cash down to the nearest nickel absent a law saying otherwise. | Company statement |
| Love’s | Convenience / fuel | When a store runs out of pennies, change on cash transactions is adjusted in the customer’s favor. | Company statement |
| Sheetz | Convenience / fuel | Says some stores have limited pennies; encourages cashless pay, charity round-ups and a penny-for-drink swap. | Company statement |
| USPS (Post Office) | Government | Rounds cash change to the nearest 5¢ when clerks lack pennies; purchases under 5¢ round up to 5¢. | Official policy page |
Four approaches
- Round down (customer’s favor). The most common choice: Wendy’s, Kwik Trip, Casey’s, QuikTrip, Harris Teeter, Love’s, Rouses and GoTo Foods brands. Some round the total down; others round the change up, which comes to the same thing. You never pay more than the exact price.
- Nearest nickel, both ways. Publix, ShopRite, some McDonald’s locations and the Post Office use the symmetric rule written into most state laws: 1, 2, 6, 7 down; 3, 4, 8, 9 up.
- Ask for exact change. Kroger and PetSmart ask cash customers for exact change and still take pennies.
- Cashless nudges and charity round-ups. Sheetz and PetSmart offer optional round-ups for charity. Those are donations, not cash rounding, and you can always decline.
How state law fits in
A store’s policy works inside its state’s rules. Arizona (when a seller is not using pennies) and Georgia require symmetric rounding of cash totals, and California will from July 1, 2027. In Connecticut, state consumer protection guidance says to round cash totals down only until the state’s rounding law takes effect on January 1, 2027. Indiana lets a business pick any method, and most other states with laws make symmetric rounding optional. In Washington you may pay the exact, unrounded total if you have the coins, and Georgia’s law requires merchants to accept exact payment including pennies. Chains that round down in every state are giving a discount, but in the mandatory states the law describes symmetric rounding; few chains have said how they handle that. Check your state in the state tracker.
Chains with no published policy
We searched for company statements, policy pages and named news reports for these chains and found nothing we could cite as a policy as of October 31, 2026. Absence here does not mean they do not round: individual stores often post their own signs.
| Chain | What we found |
|---|---|
| Walmart | No company statement. Houston’s KPRC asked Walmart about its rounding policy in October 2025 and published no reply; local employees in Durango, Colo., said in February 2026 the chain planned to round eventually. |
| Costco and Sam’s Club | No statement or policy page found. |
| Starbucks | No statement found. Reports listing Starbucks among rounding businesses did not quote the company. |
| CVS | No corporate policy. Reuters reported one Alexandria, Va., store posting an exact-change notice in November 2025. |
| Walgreens | No confirmed statement; Durango employees said in February 2026 the chain planned to round eventually. |
| Dollar General, Dollar Tree, Family Dollar | No corporate statement; only individual store reports. |
| 7-Eleven | Did not respond to Nexstar’s request for comment (October 2025). |
| Home Depot | Exact-change signs reported in some stores; the company did not respond to Nexstar (October 2025). |
| Lowe’s, Best Buy, Macy’s, Kohl’s, TJ Maxx | No statement found. |
| Wawa, Circle K, Buc-ee’s | No statement found for the penny phase-out. |
| H-E-B, Trader Joe’s, Safeway, Meijer, Wegmans | No statement found; KPRC asked H-E-B and published no reply. |
| Chick-fil-A, Taco Bell, Subway, Chipotle | No current statement found. |
What every policy has in common
- Only cash is rounded. No chain we track rounds card, debit, EBT/SNAP, gift card or app payments.
- Rounding is on the final total after tax (or on the change), never on item prices.
- Sales tax is figured on the unrounded price. How that works.
- Pennies remain legal tender, and most chains that commented said they still accept them.
Frequently asked questions
Does Walmart round to the nearest nickel?
Walmart has not published a cash rounding policy, and we found no company statement as of October 31, 2026. Reports from customers go both ways. Card and app payments at Walmart are always exact.
Which stores round down in the customer’s favor?
Wendy’s, Kwik Trip, Casey’s, QuikTrip (absent a state mandate), Harris Teeter, Love’s, Rouses and the GoTo Foods brands such as Auntie Anne’s and Cinnabon. Target and Aldi are reported to, but have not confirmed it.
Which stores round to the nearest nickel both ways?
Publix and ShopRite have published nearest-nickel policies; some McDonald’s locations and the U.S. Postal Service also round both ways.
Do any stores round card payments?
No. Every policy we found applies only to cash. Card, debit, EBT and app payments are charged to the cent.
Can a store round my cash total up?
Under symmetric rounding, yes for totals ending in 3, 4, 8 or 9 cents, because 1, 2, 6 and 7 go down. Rounding every total up is a different matter. Your rights as a customer.
Sources
- CBS News: What will companies do without pennies? We asked McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Kroger and other top retailers (Julia Doyle, updated Nov. 12, 2025)
- Reuters (via WDEZ): US retailers left short-changed as penny production ends (Jarrett Renshaw, Nov. 1, 2025)
- NewsNation (Nexstar): Penny shortage: Don’t expect correct change when paying with cash, some businesses warn (Addy Bink, updated Oct. 14, 2025)
- NewsNation (Nexstar): More retailers impacted by penny shortage: How they’re responding (Addy Bink, updated Jan. 17, 2026)
- Stateline (via Governing): As pennies disappear, states step in to set rounding rules (Kevin Hardy, Jan. 2, 2026)
- KPRC 2 Houston: ‘Penny rounding’ charge may add (or subtract) extra fee to your grocery bill (Oct. 29, 2025)
- Durango Herald: Penny phaseout means small savings for some cash-paying customers in Durango (Elizabeth Pond, Feb. 3, 2026)
- Publix: Rounding policy (official policy page)
- ShopRite: Penny policy (official policy page)
- USPS Link: USPS begins penny-rounding policy (Dec. 30, 2025)
- Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection: Change for cash payments (Jan. 13, 2026)