The Post-Penny Economy: How Cash Rounding and Credit Card Surcharges Are Changing What You Pay (CNBC)

For consumers, the actual amount paid at the cash register increasingly depends on the payment type used. Given the end of penny production last year by the U.S. Mint, many merchants have begun rounding cash payments up or down to the nearest nickel. States have passed laws governing how rounding can be handled, and a federal law offering guidance for doing so could be on its way. At the same time, consumers may be encountering credit card surcharges more often at some retailers and service providers, experts say, which pushes up the total cost for paying by credit card. “What we are seeing is more merchants, the smaller merchants, imposing surcharges,” said Crystal Kaldjob, a partner with Goodwin in Washington, DC, who works in the law firm’s financial industry group. A bipartisan bill in Congress called the Common Cents Act would allow, but not require, merchants to round a total up or down to the nearest nickel if exact change cannot be provided, among other provisions. “A lot of the merchants that I work with really want some clarity so they can move forward with a policy as to how they manage customers who are paying cash in stores,” Kaldjob said.

Read the CNBC article for more.