McDonald’s new payment policy will have some customers in for a penny, in for a pound.

Due to the U.S. Treasury halting production of pennies, the fast-food chain will now be rounding cash change to the nearest 5 cents.

This was first brought to customers’ attention on Oct. 25, when a photo of a memo about the change at a Bear Family Restaurants franchise location in Chicago was posted on subreddits r/McDonalds and r/mildyinteresting.

According to the sign, the new rounding policy would work as follows — and only applies to those paying in cash:

  • If a customer’s total ends in 1 cent or 2 cents, round down to 0 cents.
  • If a customer’s total ends in 3 cents or 4 cents, round up to 5 cents.
  • If a customer’s total ends in 5 cents or 0 cents, exact change is given.
  • If a customer’s total ends in 6 cents or 7 cents, round down to 5 cents.
  • If a customer’s total ends in 8 cents or 9 cents, round up to 10 cents.

McDonald’s confirms to TODAY.com that the policy is real, adding that locations in certain pockets of the country are experiencing penny shortages may round up or down to the nearest 5 cents if a customer does not have exact change. This would not impact card payments or other cashless options.

“Following the discontinuation of pennies nationwide, some McDonald’s locations may not be able to provide exact change,” a spokesperson tells TODAY.com.

“We have a team actively working on long-term solutions to keep things simple and fair for customers,” the spokesperson continues. “This is an issue affecting all retailers across the country, and we will continue to work with the federal government to obtain guidance on this matter going forward.”

The company notes that restaurants may ask customers to use exact change or cashless payment options like credit/debit or its app, where they can unlock a variety of national and local deals.

When Did Penny Production Stop?

Back in February, President Donald Trump said he had directed the Treasury Department to stop minting new pennies due to the rising cost of the coin’s production. Then, in May, the Treasury Department said it had made its final order of penny blanks.

Other countries have instituted similar rounding policies after getting rid of low-tender coins. After eliminating 1- and 2-cent coins in 1992, Australia enacted a rounding policy. Canada did the same after halting penny production in 2012.

Customers React to the New Policy Online

McDonald’s new policy, however, seems to be rubbing some customers the wrong way.

“… But the cent will still be in circulation. They’re just not making new ones,” wrote one Reddit user. “You can still use the old ones in circulation. The same way you can use buffalo nickels, large dollar coins, and 20¢ coins at any store/bank today.”

“So they take from some and give others or do they change their menu to always round down? Not sure how this is legal because a penny owed is still a penny owed,” wrote another.

“How am I suppose to donate my [pennies] to Ronald McDonald house?” asked another, referring to the donation boxes near some McDonald’s cash registers.

“There are still 114 billion pennies in circulation,” said one more. “There is no shortage of pennies. We just need to use the pennies that are in our piggy banks.”