FMI, NGA Pen Letter to Secretary Yellen Regarding National Coin Shortage

As retailers of all sizes continue to struggle with the effects of ongoing coin circulation challenges—compounded by the shift in consumer spending habits due to the COVID-19 pandemic—several industry associations, including FMI–The Food Industry Association and the National Grocers Association (NGA) sent a letter to U.S. Department of Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen calling for the agency to leverage its considerable resources to raise awareness about the need for increased coin circulation.

The March 21 letter also asks for the Federal Reserve to assist on “Get Coin Moving”—the coin circulation campaign created by the U.S. Coin Task Force, of which FMI is a member.

FMI said that much of the $48.5 billion in coin already in circulation is sitting dormant inside America’s 128 million households.

Grocery retailers and cash-reliant grocery customers are still grappling to access enough coin to support everyday cash transactions. The letter presses upon how the U.S. Mint does not have the capacity to produce enough new coin to make up for the circulation slowdown, which especially creates harm for low-income individuals and the unbanked.

“For the food industry, this coin supply disruption affects a grocer’s ability to complete cash transactions because they lack sufficient coin to make change at checkout. This significantly limits the ability of millions of cash-reliant and cash-preferring grocery customers to buy necessary goods and services,” Christine Pollack, VP of government relations for FMI and a U.S. Coin Task Force member, said in a statement.

FMI said it joined the U.S. Coin Task Force in July 2020 alongside the U.S. Mint, the Federal Reserve, armored carriers, bankers, coin aggregators and other retailers to identify and promote strategies to resolve the coin supply chain issues.