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Solving coin circulation problems in your stores

In the US, it’s not uncommon to see stores asking for exact change or warning that they cannot give change due to a “coin shortage.” The actual problem is circulation, and not so much a coin shortage. Call it what you want, but it is impacting customers’ ability to receive change and stores’ ability to keep enough change in the tills.

Where did the coins go?

Among developed nations, the “shortage” is not an issue the way it is in the US or in some European countries. ‘Missing’ coins were/are most likely stored away in homes or at the bottom of purses and couch cushions. Coin recycling programs like Coinstar help circulation, but people are only motivated to use the service once they have built up a significant stash of coins.

Bundesbank board member Johannes Beerbaum said that in 2021 the Bundesbank were issuing new coins with a total value of 658 million euros. The second largest issuer of coins in 2021 was Spain: With 321.5 million, the Spanish are well ahead of France, which is planning new coins worth 293 million euros and is thus in third place.” With going back to normal consumers in Germany & Europe will increasingly pay with coins and banknotes again.

While economic pain from COVID-19 has been global and widespread, a coin shortage is not something every country is dealing with — including the U.K., where we now have surplus of coins in circulation.

Make your coins count

Having a way to quickly recycle coins in a store can help reduce the need to order a large number of coins. It also saves you time on depositing coins. To do this accurately, coins need to first be counted towards the total of the drawer they are in to get an accurate cash count.

With the Touch cash counter, a manager or store leader can count each drawer in about a minute. They can quickly take the coins above the start bank amount and add them to another drawer that may be below the threshold.

Knowing your true coin needs

The UK has seen one of the highest consumer adoption rates for digital and touch payments over the past two years, but protecting cash payments, especially for small purchases, remains vital to the economy.

Although coin issues aren’t as prevalent in many areas, keeping coins in circulation is key to ensuring that customers can make cash payments and have payment choice for essential items in every country.

In addition to counting and recirculating coins, developing denominational thresholds based on actual use can help stores determine how many coins they need. Touch Viewer, our cloud-based reporting software, allows businesses to see cash counts from each of their locations. Management or treasury can drill down to individual stores and look at their cash counts over a period and see which coins are moving the most. If patterns are noticed where certain coins aren’t moving, they can reduce the threshold for that denomination for a particular store. Touch Viewer gives businesses the ability to make decisions based on their own data for each location.

In-store cash management solutions are a low-cost way to improve efficiency and reduce fees around cash handling. Let us find the right solution for your business. 



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