If you've decided it is time to stop storing these monies in your couch, seat cushions, under the driver's seat, in the piggy bank, or that glass mason jar, now might be a great time to use your money while completing your spring cleaning.
But who wants to take the time to roll coins, stand in a bank like, or wait for a coin counting machine to process all of the coins and charge a fee, when you can immediately use your coins for purchases for free?
And, no, I am not speaking of taking an embarrassing bag of coins up to a cash register...annoying a sales clerk in the process (like Cramer so famously did in Seinfeld).
What I am suggesting is a split payment. Many automated checkout kiosks make this a cinch! And the great thing is, you don't need to worry about how much coinage you have or carrying exact change. Just bring in 30-40 cents or so (maybe 20 cents if all pennies) to the store each time you go shopping. When checking out, choose the cash option and deposit your coins and pennies. Your balance due is now decreased by 20, 30, or 40 cents. Now choose credit/debit and put the remaining balance on your card. Congratulations! You now used your 'useless' coins and paid no fees or rolled any coins.
You can do the same thing at most registers with a clerk, but they may be less willing to split the payment, so be aware of it and look for a machine checkout system. (Most that I have run into don't care, though, and will do it.) Additionally, do you see why it doesn't matter whether or not you have exact change? If your balance due is $41.56, and you bring in $0.30 and deposit that first, you easily put the remaining $41.26 on your card, taking advantage of the fact that cards make dealing with any cents easy regardless of the number.
Soon, you will be rid of your excess coins, and will have saved a bit from being debited from your bank as well, all with very little effort and time taken to do so.
And now, a proposal...
Many retailers are finally starting to send receipts to your email account of choice! So, why don't retailers and credit/debit card processors come up with a way that change can be dealt with electronically? For example, say $20 cash is used to make a $13.46 sale. Why couldn't the clerk swipe the $0.46 to a bank card, or to a special purpose, industry standard 'coin card', that works like a sort of digital coin purse and can be used like a credit/debit card for later purchases?
2 comments:
The Wells Fargo in town growing up had a coin counter. You could just take coins in and they'd throw them in the machine and give you money. Do banks not have that any more?
Some may still have them. But it seems nearly every bank I have ever tried to deposit a fair amount of coins to has refused them unless you had them already rolled.
Obviously, they will take smaller amounts of coins that are easy to count for deposit, but at that point it is easier to just have 20-30 coins in your pocket and use them for a split payment at the self checkout.
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