Rouses Markets penny and cash rounding policy
Rouses Markets rounds in the customer’s favor: once a store’s penny supply is gone, the coin change you get back is rounded up to the nearest nickel. Card, EBT and mobile payments are not affected.
What Rouses does with cash totals
Rouses said in November 2025 that it would phase out pennies store by store as each store’s supply runs out, and that rounding would always be in the customer’s favor. CEO Donny Rouse said rounding up is the simplest, fairest way to handle the change so customers never come up short.
The rounding is applied to your change: if you are owed 91 cents, you get 95. Prices and totals do not change. That has the same effect as rounding the total down to the nearest nickel. Rouses also said it will still accept pennies as payment.
What you pay in cash
| Exact total | You pay in cash | Difference | Card / app |
|---|---|---|---|
| $7.81 | $7.80 | −1¢ | $7.81 |
| $7.82 | $7.80 | −2¢ | $7.82 |
| $7.83 | $7.80 | −3¢ | $7.83 |
| $7.84 | $7.80 | −4¢ | $7.84 |
| $7.85 | $7.85 | same | $7.85 |
| $7.86 | $7.85 | −1¢ | $7.86 |
| $7.87 | $7.85 | −2¢ | $7.87 |
| $7.88 | $7.85 | −3¢ | $7.88 |
| $7.89 | $7.85 | −4¢ | $7.89 |
Does it vary by state?
Rouses operates in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Alabama allows optional rounding of the total or the change, and rounding in the customer’s favor gives back more than the state’s symmetric rule would. Louisiana and Mississippi had no rounding law as of October 31, 2026.
Card vs cash
Credit, debit, EBT and mobile payments are not affected; they are charged the exact amount.
Tips for customers
- Paying cash at Rouses never costs you more: change is rounded up.
- You can still pay with pennies if you have them.
- SNAP/EBT payments are exact; only cash change is rounded.
What the company has said
- “Rounding up is the simplest, fairest way to handle this change so customers never come up short.”