Coin shortage in United States as businesses request customers pay with card or exact change

There is a new shortage to contend with in the United States because of the coronavirus pandemic, and it’s not something you would automatically expect.

There is a national coin shortage in the country due to the U.S. Mint producing fewer coins in the spring during lockdown procedures.

Also, due to widespread bank lobby closures, fewer customers were bringing in coins to recycle. The flow of coins through the economy essentially stopped. Now, many businesses are being forced to accept only exact change or debit and credit cards from customers.

The Fed ensures consumers that this is only a temporary inconvenience. Now that businesses are back open, coin circulation should rise back up to normal numbers within a few weeks.

Popular coin exchange kiosk giant, Coinstar, is making more frequent pickups to help bring coins back into the national circulation as quickly as possible. They operate 17,000 coin exchange locations throughout the U.S. Even though a large percentage of people rely on cards and smart phone apps to pay for things in this day and age, the coin shortage is a reminder that sometimes, you just need change.