HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Paying with cash nowadays may cost you slightly more at the store, or a little less, because of the ongoing penny shortage.<\/p>\n
After the U.S. Treasury stopped penny production late last year because creating the coin costs more than three times its worth, Hawaii businesses are coming up with new penny policies.<\/p>\n
At Lion Coffee in Kalihi, orders are rounded to the nearest nickel if customers pay with cash and don\u2019t have exact change. Workers are trying to ensure they don\u2019t have to charge cash-carrying customers extra, even if only by a few cents. Baristas are not only pulling shots from espresso machines\u2014they\u2019re also pulling pennies from their own pockets to stock the shop.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have like bags of dollars worth of pennies,\u201d store manager Mercy Abel said.<\/p>\n
But some customers at the shop weren\u2019t bothered, confident their cup of coffee was worth an extra two cents.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re hooked, everyone\u2019s hooked on the coffee,\u201d patron Christina Young said. \u201cRounding up, I think is, it\u2019s happening, you can\u2019t really avoid it, and I\u2019m okay with it.\u201d<\/p>\n
A new sign on the counter at Lion Coffee reminds customers about the change, suggesting they pay with exact change or use a card. A similar sign is also posted on cash registers at Target Ala Moana.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just easier to do tap and pay, so I use Apple Pay quite often. When I do pay with cash, I throw my change in to a jar when I get home,\u201d shopper Willow Logan said.<\/p>\n
Victor Lim of the Hawaii Restaurant Association said, \u201cBusinesses that use credit cards, I mean that\u2019s not a problem. But think about mom and pops, corner of your block…they basically deal with 100% cash transaction.\u201d<\/p>\n