End of the Penny

What the End of Minting Pennies Means for Everyday Banking

First Published November 2025

With the end of penny production, many are wondering what this change means for day-to-day banking. While the shift represents a milestone in U.S. currency, staff from across Union State Bank emphasize that the transition will be gradual and for most people, barely noticeable.

The majority of the pennies that flow through Union State Bank come directly from customers. As Rachel Prentice, Union State Bank’s Retail Coordinator for the Bartlesville, Oklahoma market explains, “Most of the pennies recirculated through USB come from commercial clients and individual customers that are exchanging saved coin for currency.” Julie VonBon, Market Coordinator for Union State Bank, echoes the same process, noting, “USB receives most of our circulated pennies from customers that have been saving them at home. When they get an abundance of them, they bring them in for deposit or to convert to larger currency.”

Union State Bank is not anticipating immediate shortages, but the actual timeline for when pennies will no longer be available is unknown. “It really depends on customer demand for pennies and deposit volume,” said Mike McWhirt, Union State Bank’s Chief Operations Officer. “We believe the Bank has enough pennies to meet customers' needs in the short term, but pennies are no longer being minted and will soon be unavailable from our currency provider.”

To extend the availability of pennies, Union State Bank has begun limiting distributions to $5 per day. In addition, all USB branches continue to re-roll pennies collected from their customers. “It will be some time before we are out of pennies with the re-rolling we are currently doing,” says Kelli Houchen, Union State Bank’s Market Coordinator for Newton, KS.

For consumers wondering whether to keep or cash in their penny jars, the USB team offers simple advice. “I would encourage customers to exchange those pennies at the bank or deposit them into an interest-bearing account,” Prentice says. Houchen adds, “We would love to take your loose change off your hands!”

When the day finally arrives that pennies are no longer available for transactions, Union State Bank plans to adapt. McWhirt explains, “This really only affects the Bank and its customers on transactions where we provide cash. We plan to round those transactions to the nearest nickel and deposit the rest to the customer's account.” If a branch is cashing a check for a non-customer and lacks pennies, “we will round the (non-customer check cashing fee) down to the nearest nickel,” he adds.

Still, the impact on most people will be small. “The average customer rarely utilizes pennies in their day-to-day life,” Prentice notes. VonBon agrees and adds “With the popularity of debit and credit cards, online banking, and apps like Apple Pay, it will have little to no impact.” Houchen goes one step further with her belief, “Eventually, it will be a non-event.”

With an estimated 250 billion pennies still in circulation, there’s no immediate need for concern. As Prentice puts it, “Pennies are not going anywhere anytime soon.” And as McWhirt jokingly concludes, “This is a small change that will take some adjustment, but that is just my two cents.”