Atlanta Fed examines rounding scenarios without pennies

A new blog post from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta examines possible rounding methods the United States could use when penny production is phased out.

Details: The blog post notes:

• Sooner or later, transactions will have to be rounded up or down to either zero or five cents.

• There are no official rounding rules in the United States, though a bill that would allow rounding was first introduced in 1989.

• The "symmetric" rounding rule was adopted by Canada and the European Central Bank.

ICBA Advocacy: ICBA last month called on the Treasury Department to restart production of the penny and develop a formal plan to phase out production of the one-cent coin given the lack of any formal announcement thus far.

Resources for Community Bankers:

• A recent ICBA blog post breaks down what is and is not happening with the change to the U.S. penny—and how ICBA is working to gain clarity and address disruptions from the process.

• The ICBA Compliance Center Question of the Week page features Q&As on Treasury’s decision to end production of the penny.

• ICBA Community also features community banker discussions on processes and best practices related to the penny going away.