Rounding to 5c

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Fjon
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Rounding to 5c

Post by Fjon »

I saw this in the news today:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2015/1028/737876 ... -two-cent/

And was wondering how it works in other countries. I know at the introduction of the Euro Finland was the only country that did this, but a few others (Netherlands, Belgium) started doing it later.

How has it worked out in those countries? I for one will be happy to have less coins to carry around, but it will make it harder for anyone who collects circulated coins.

Thoughts?
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Montgomery Burns
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Re: Rounding to 5c

Post by Montgomery Burns »

I'm OK with a rounding law/practice. Outlawing 1c and 2c coins, that's what I would find weird (because it would be strange for them to be accepted in one region and not accepted in another region under the same currency).
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avij
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Re: Rounding to 5c

Post by avij »

I've been happy with the way it works in Finland. For cash transactions, the total amount is rounded to the nearest 5 cents. As opposed to how it's going to be implemented in Ireland, Finnish customers can't opt out of the rounding and demand to receive an exact change. They can always choose to pay with a credit/debit card, in which case the total won't be rounded.

1c and 2c coins are still legal tender here in Finland. On the other hand, shops can choose which payment methods they accept. If a shop does not accept 1c or 2c coins (or 500e banknotes) the shop must post a visible notice about the restrictions. In practise, I don't remember seeing notices "we don't accept 1c or 2c coins" anywhere in Finland. Some fast food restaurants and such don't accept payments with large banknotes. That kind of notices are much more common.
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Re: Rounding to 5c

Post by thejay »

Hi,

In The Netherlands 99% of merchants use the rounding. Officially you can still pay with 1 and 2 cent coins, but shops don't like it and rounding will always be applied like this:
1,01 / 1,02 = 1,00
1,03 / 1,04 / 1,06 / 1,07 = 1,05
1,08 / 1,09 = 2,00
If you pay electronically rounding is never applied.

In Belgium rounding is not widely spread as yet. I haven't come around any shops that do it.
The same rounding rules are valid, but I've heard of plans to also apply it when paying electronically. The status of this idea is not clear to me.

Personally I grew up with rounding in The Netherlands, so I don't have a real problem with it.
Of course you can always try to have the rounding to your own advantage :-)

I agree if there would be a law created, it would be better to discontinue the 1c & 2c coins. It costs more to produce the coins than the value it represents. Sadly this means there would be less coins to collect :wink:
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Re: Rounding to 5c

Post by MDeen »

I don't know how it is in other countries, but in the Netherlands, a lot of articles are priced with something+9 cent, like € 1,69 or € 0,49. So if you buy one of those, you always have to round up. If you buy more (do your weekly groceries) it does not have a big effect.

Otherwise, we have been rounding to 5 cent since way before the €-era so we are used to it (but we never had 2 cent coins, there was a 2,5 cent coin until 1942). 1 and 2 cent coins are still legal tender (although I have heard incidents that they are not always accepted) and it is completely embedded in the transactions. You get a receipt with the exact amount but you pay the rounded amount.

But when I'm in Germany, I have no problem with the non-rounding of transactions.
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Re: Rounding to 5c

Post by Tvx1 »

I can tell you that here in Belgium, contrary to the rumours, there is no rounding at all. Prizes are still applied to the individual euro cent and I still receive 1 cent and 2 cents coins as change nearly every day. As a result of that, :flag-be: 1ct and 2cts coins up to those of the current year (2015) are found in circulation.
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Re: Rounding to 5c

Post by philgelico »

In :flag-fr: , no rounding at all .... And i presume it can't happen, just because no customer will accept it.
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Re: Rounding to 5c

Post by vermeer »

If i have to pay 3 times 9 cents = 27 cents, then i pay 25 cents. So i save 2 cents. Problem is that i receive less banknotes. One does 1 transaction instead of 3.
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Re: Rounding to 5c

Post by HBoZ »

And the next country is:

Italy mulls plan to scrap one- and two-cent coins

Italy's ruling Democratic Party on Monday unveiled a proposal to get rid of one- and two-cent coins from 2018 onwards.

Scrapping the small change would amount to savings of €20,000 each year, said the party's Head of Innovation Sergio Boccadutri, who proposed the measure as a budgetary amendment.

According to the MP, each one-cent coin costs 4.2 cents to manufacture, while a two-cent coin costs 5.2 cents.

Since the introduction of the euro in Italy, the mint has spent billions on creating the small denominations, which are rarely accepted in parking meters, toll booths, or vending machines - meaning they often end up forgotten in drawers or old coat pockets.

Across the eurozone, four countries have already largely stopped the production of the two lowest-value coins.

In Belgium, Finland, Ireland and the Netherlands, prices are often rounded to the nearest five cents when consumers pay with cash, though the small coins remain legal tender.

Boccadutri previously suggested introducing rounding in Italy in 2014, when he was an MP for the now-defunct Left Ecology Freedom party.

The Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of Italy's parliament, voted almost unanimously in favour of the proposal, committing the country to "examine the possibility of introducing measures to reduce significantly the demand for one- and two-cent coins".
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Re: Rounding to 5c

Post by Fjon »

HBoZ wrote:
Scrapping the small change would amount to savings of €20,000 each year, said the party's Head of Innovation Sergio Boccadutri, who proposed the measure as a budgetary amendment.
€20,000? That's a tiny saving for a country the size of Italy. Is that number correct? I would imagine much higher savings.
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Re: Rounding to 5c

Post by Tvx1 »

Fjon wrote:
HBoZ wrote:
Scrapping the small change would amount to savings of €20,000 each year, said the party's Head of Innovation Sergio Boccadutri, who proposed the measure as a budgetary amendment.
€20,000? That's a tiny saving for a country the size of Italy. Is that number correct? I would imagine much higher savings.
Indeed. That would mean the Italian mint spends more on minting Vatican City 1 and 2 cents coins than they save by not minting their own ones. And there is another error in that article. Belgium has not largely stopped producing the smallest euro coins. 1 cent and 2 cents coins are still produced extensively and they circulate normally as well. I have already encountered countless 1 and 2 cents coins from the previous two years. And prices are not being rounded here at all either.
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