Walmart asks customers to use credit, debit cards amid coronavirus pandemic coin shortage

Is one of the nation’s largest retailers asking customers to use debit and credit cards instead of cash?

The answer it seems is yes.

There are multiple reports that Walmart stores are requesting customers to use either a debit or credit card to complete their in-person purchases.

KXTV in Sacramento, California, reported Walmart stores are being hit hard by a nation-wide coin shortage.

“Like most retailers, we’re experiencing the effects of the nation-wide coin shortage. We’re asking customers to pay with card or use correct change when possible if they need to pay with cash,” company spokesperson Avani Dudhia told KXTV in a statement.

Cash can still be used at the stores, but some self-checkouts have been changed to card only.

The same is being seen at Walmart locations in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The stores are only taking card payments to limit the use of cash. One shopper told KMTV she was upset because her mother only uses cash and they were not able to buy what they needed when they were checking out.

A shopper in Rockingham County, North Carolina, said her Walmart was accepting cash at only one register, and that the total had to be rounded to the nearest dollar, WFMY reported.

Walmart isn’t the only chain feeling the penny-pinch. Some convenience stores in that area are giving change back on a gift card while some 7-Eleven stores are asking customers to bring in $5 in spare change in exchange for a credit in the same amount and a free Slurpee, WFMY reported.

Banks are also asking customers to bring in their jars of collected coins and cash them in for bills in the same amount to be able to get coins in circulation again, WFMY reported.

Kroger grocery chain announced recently that instead of giving change, extra payments for groceries will be loaded onto loyalty cards to be used as a deduction on a future purchase, WXIX reported.

The money can also be donated to Kroger’s Zero Hunger/Zero Waste Foundation, WKRC reported.

The Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell admitted last month there is a coin shortage due to the coronavirus pandemic shutdowns.

“With the partial closure of the economy, the flow of funds through the economy has stopped. We are working with the Mint and the Reserve Banks and as the economy re-opens, we are starting to see money move around again,“ Powell said, The Associated Press reported in June.

Cox Media Group