McDonald's May Change Some Of Its Prices Soon: Here's Why

McDonald's is among the biggest restaurant chains in the world, constantly opening new restaurants each year to satisfy its many diehard fans. In fact, even with McDonald's raising its prices considerably since 2019, the chain is still the top restaurant based on sales in the entire world. This year, however, a big change is seemingly coming to the restaurant chain that might confuse some of its long-time customers. The chain has begun rounding to the nearest $0.05 for every transaction using cash that necessitates change being returned to the customer. The reason for this development is reportedly due to the United States Treasury halting production on the penny earlier this year, making it more difficult to reliably give change using the currency long-term.

This development has already been seen by some McDonald's customers online who have noticed signs in the drive-thru stating that any cash transaction ending in 1 cent, 2 cents, 6 cents, or 7 cents will be rounded down when receiving change from the restaurant. Meanwhile, transactions ending in 3 cents, 4 cents, 8 cents, or 9 cents will all be rounded up. This model has yet to be rolled out nationwide and may take different forms for different franchisees and locations, but many expect the shift away from using pennies at the Chicago-based restaurant chain to come sooner rather than later.

Luckily, McDonald's fans who purchase their meals using a credit card or debit card — which make up the vast majority of the chain's transactions in the United States – will experience little to no changes as a result of this massive departure away from use of the penny. Meanwhile, the impact on those who do still utilize cash at the restaurant is intended to be minimal, according to a statement made to ABC News by a McDonald's USA representative. "Following the discontinuation of pennies nationwide, some McDonald's locations may not be able to provide exact change," the company explained. "We have a team actively working on long-term solutions to keep things simple and fair for customers."

The penny is being phased out in an attempt to save money due to how inefficient making them is. Each one costs over three times as much to make as it's worth, with the estimated cost per coin being 3.7 cents. Nevertheless, while McDonald's is the first to make a massive statement on this change, the chain's rep noted that it is far from an isolated problem and will need to be addressed by businesses across the country. "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 McDonald's USA representative added.