Has it happened to you yet? You swing by the drive-through, choose to pay with cash, and, uh-oh…they’re having a hard time giving you exact change.
It’s not just that restaurant. Or the convenience store. Or anywhere else where you’re accustomed to getting pennies, nickels, dimes or quarters. Nationwide, there’s a shortage of available coins.
Here’s why: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted the supply chain and normal circulation patterns for coins. In the past few months, the U.S. Mint’s production of coins decreased due to necessary measures to protect the health of its employees. At the same time, coin deposits from banks and other depository institutions to the Federal Reserve declined significantly.
The result? Reserve banks, along with Federal Reserve coin distribution locations, needed to change how they allocate coin inventories to financial institutions nationwide. That includes Regions Bank. There are limits on the amounts of coins that the bank, and other financial institutions, can order and provide to branches and Commercial Banking customers.
To be clear, the Federal Reserve is confident the coin inventory issues will resolve when more of the economy is able to open back up. Normal circulation patterns will help relieve this. But there are other steps that can be taken by consumers in the near term to ease the impact.
Think about the coin jar sitting full inside the kitchen cabinet. If you’re like a lot of households, you may have more than one. Consider wherever else coins have collected over time. People are often surprised at how much they find. And now they have a chance to really make that money work for them – while helping #GetCoinMoving again.
Ready to #GetCoinMoving?
Once you’ve got your coins collected, bring unneeded change to a Regions branch. Your Regions account will be credited upon processing.
Here are some things to keep in mind:
- Large-volume coin transactions can damage drive-thru facilities, and Regions’ branch lobbies remain open by appointment only. We recommend you visit regions.com/locations to make an appointment at your local branch.
- A deposit account (checking, savings, or money market) is required for depositing the coin.
- Rolled coins will be deposited the same business day. Bulk, unrolled coins will be bagged and shipped to the vault for counting and crediting; unrolled coin will not be counted/deposited by branch associates.
“This year has brought a lot of unique challenges, and the coin shortage is one that a lot of consumers didn’t expect,” said Chris Brasher, Head of Bank Operations & Transformation for Regions Bank. “This is, indeed, a temporary situation, but it’s also a great time for households that have a bunch of quarters, nickels, dimes and pennies saved up to go ahead and cash in on what they’ve been saving. A lot of our customers are amazed at how much money they’ve had lying around. And by reintroducing those coins into circulation, we can help more of our customers and local businesses get access to the change they need until the shortage is alleviated.”