CHARLOTTE, N.C. — You’re probably seeing more signs about the nationwide coin shortage. Most signs say people have to use credit, debit or exact change.
“I noticed it. I have no idea why,” a customer, Bruce Mitchell, said. “You know what, these are just some really crazy times.”
“I don’t know what’s going on,” another customer, Rafael Jackson, told Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke.
People are using cash less often for convenience and social distancing reasons, and many businesses are doing less business. That has interrupted the flow of actual dollars and cents.
The Federal Reserve has been working with the U.S. Mint to make more coins and ease restrictions. It’s also asking banks and credit unions to only order the coin they need for the immediate future, and not to stock up. The Federal Reserve says it’s confident this will resolve itself when the economy opens further.
Stoogenke spoke with Wells Fargo economist Mark Vitner about what this means long-term.
“I think it’s likely to persist for some time,” Vitner said. “I think what this is all going to do is it’s going to further that process along and we’re going to see that cash transactions account for a much smaller proportion of overall transactions. That’s something that was going to happen anyway. It’s just going to speed it up.”
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