Phasing out the penny—what can I expect?

After more than 230 years of the penny, will it now be a nickel for your thoughts?

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The U.S. Treasury announced intentions in May 2025 to begin phasing out the penny, and production was officially halted in mid-November. While pennies will still be in circulation as valid currency, we will start to see supply dwindle across the Federal Reserve system, impacting the Bank’s ability to order and keep them stocked in our branches. This means that you’ll eventually—and sooner rather than later in some locations—need to begin substituting nickels for pennies in change orders, and you can expect that certain cash transactions, like cashing checks, may be rounded to the nearest nickel. We will be using a standard rounding system in these instances, and it’s explained for you below:

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Our transaction processing system will automatically round to the correct change when necessary, so you don’t need to worry about memorizing the above information—we just want to make you aware. If you haven’t already, you’ll likely start to see similar messaging and rounding procedures out and about at retailers.

That said, outside of cash transactions, you shouldn’t expect many differences in your day-to-day payments. Card and digital payments will still support exact change and will not be impacted.

As we move into 2026, if you have jars or other containers of coins at home, we encourage you to bring them to your local branch for deposit. This helps to keep coins moving in our communities! If you have any questions about coin availability or how it may affect you or your business, our bankers are happy to assist.

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