Should Canadian retailers accept discontinued penny?
Canada's currency is changing in big ways, as government officials have announced that the penny will no longer be produced by the Royal Canadian Mint. However, many citizens still want retailers to accept these one-cent coins even after they have been phased-out.
According to The Canadian Press, a survey by the Bank of Montreal found that 73 percent of Canadians expect that businesses will continue taking pennies for cash transactions, even though the Mint has already started collecting the coins and melting them down to recycle the metal. When it comes to accepting pennies, the news source reports that it is up to merchants to decide how long they want to process them. Once retailers decided to stop taking the coins, they will need to round up cash purchases to nearest five cents. However, many consumers are opposed to this, which is why a significant amount still want pennies to be taken during transactions.
It's not yet clear how this currency change could impact the nation's retail sales, which as of the end of 2012 were on an upward trajectory. The Business Records writes that a report from Statistics Canada revealed that sales totals in November jumped 0.2 percent from the previous month, reaching $39.4 billion.
