Inland Empire restaurants and grocery stores are having difficulty providing exact change due to a national coin shortage.
The supply chain interruption for coins first started when businesses and banks closed due to the pandemic. Then stay at home orders for Fed employees meant coin production slowed down. Now to ease the shortage, there are strict limits on bank requests for dimes, nickels, quarters and pennies.
So, a number of large retailers are adapting. Walmart is making self-check-out registers card only and Ralphs is asking if change from purchases can be applied to customer loyalty cards. Many small businesses are feeling the effects too and asking for exact change or card payments only.
The most unique approach goes to the San Manuel Casino who announced a promotion to encourage patrons to bring in coins to exchange for gaming credits.
So now is the time for people to collect lonely coins laying around their house. People can also check to see if their banks exchange coins for dollars or with their credit card companies for special offers.