One-cent coins before the end? Cash finally gets easier!

One-cent coins before the end? Cash finally gets easier!

In Germany there is a groundbreaking proposal to abolish one and two cent coins! The Bundesbank would like to be rounded up or rounded on the nearest five euro cent for cash payments. According to the Bundesbank, the production, packaging and transport costs for these small coins are simply too high. "If we do without the circulation of one and two cent coins, cash would be more attractive for the users," explains Burkhard Balz, board member of the Bundesbank. This initiative could be driven forward by the "National Cash Forum", which Balz launched in February 2024.

making cash more efficiently

The forum aims to secure cash as a means of payment and at the same time optimize cash handling. According to the proposals, some EU countries that already implement similar systems could follow the German model, such as Finland, where cash payments have to be rounded into the nearest five-cent amount. Surveys show that many people do not have great love for the small coins, and according to the Eurobarometer most are to abolish them. Many such cent coins end up in piggy banks or are simply lost, which further questions their use. The Spiegel .

The Bundesbank's advance shows that there are more and more efforts to modernize cash traffic. For retailers, banks, money transporters and consumer advocates, this is an important topic, since they are all represented in the national cash forum. The standardization of the rounding rules within Europe could thus be a step to relieve users and to save resources.