If you're paying cash at McDonald's, prepare for a big change
McDonald’s isn’t just about the comfort of knowing your fries and Big Mac will taste the same whether you’re in Paris, Texas, or Paris, France (although that’s a sweet perk). The whole point of fast food is that it’s quick, convenient and affordable. Because while most of us don’t carry too many dollar bills around these days, there still may be enough cash in your car to cruise through the McDonald’s drive-thru without using a card.
And there’s a new policy at McDonald’s that may allow you to keep even more of that pocket change. But there’s a catch: It could force you to spend more instead. It’s complicated, and it really varies by location. So what should you know before you place your next order? Read on for the details.
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What’s changing about McDonald’s payments?
The fast-food chain is introducing a policy that changes how it calculates the total cost of your order. Now, McDonald’s will round your total up or down to the nearest 5 cents. So if your total ends in 1 cent or 2 cents, McDonald’s will round it down to zero cents. Let’s say your go-to order regularly rings up for $6.82. With this policy, you’ll pay $6.80.
Now for the not-so-good news: If your total ends in 3 cents or 4 cents, the restaurant will round the charge up to the nearest 5 cents. In this case, if your total is $7.43, it will be rounded up to $7.45.
This is all well and good if you’re saving a couple of cents, but it’s not so great if the fast-food conglomerate is charging you more on the regular.
What are the new rules, exactly?
McDonald’s is applying the basic principles of math here, but it’s still a little confusing, right? Luckily, the restaurant is posting signs—like one spotted at a Chicago-area location and shared on Reddit—to make this rounding situation very clear.
Here’s how the rounding works:
- Ends in 1 or 2 cents: Round down to zero
- Ends in 3 or 4 cents: Round up to 5 cents
- Ends in 5 cents or zero: Exact change given
- Ends in 6 or 7 cents: Round down to 5 cents
- Ends in 8 or 9 cents: Round up to 10 cents
Why is McDonald’s doing this?
It has to do with the humble penny—its disappearance, to be exact. Some McDonald’s locations are experiencing a shortage of pennies in their area, so handing out exact change isn’t an option. The solution: rounding to the nearest 5 cents.
Whether this is a permanent solution remains to be seen. McDonald’s, for its part, seems to be open to other ways of getting around the penny problem. “We have a team actively working on long-term solutions to keep things simple and fair for customers,” the company told Reader’s Digest. “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.”
McDonald’s is right: The shortage isn’t unique to the fast-food chain. It’s a result of the U.S. Treasury halting the production of pennies nationwide. The decision to ditch the penny came down to the cost of the metal: Producing a penny costs more than the value of the penny itself. According to the U.S. Mint, it costs 3.69 cents to create a penny, yet the coin is still worth only 1 cent. It doesn’t make a whole lot of sense (or rather, cents) to continue minting the coins.
How do customers feel about this?
Naturally, customers are feeling a little skeptical about this rounding business. “I guess it’s OK and not a big deal, but knowing how these companies work, I can see them pricing everything so they can pocket an extra 2 cents from every sale,” says a Redditor.
On the same Reddit thread, another commenter is simply fed up with pennies altogether: “We should [do] this anyway, retire the penny,” they wrote. “In fact, also retire the nickel. Hell, the last time the U.S. retired its lowest coin was the half-cent, and back then it was worth more than what a dime is worth today. Why are we even using pennies and nickels?”
Will this affect all customers?
Thankfully, this won’t impact all customers. Only those who are paying with cash will encounter the rounding policy. If you’re paying with a credit card (“the majority of transactions here in the U.S.,” McDonald’s told us), your total will remain the same, so you’ll still pay $6.03 or $8.02, for instance.
Plus, the cashier may offer alternative payments before rounding up your charge. “Restaurants may ask customers to use exact change or cashless payment options like credit/debit or the app,” the company shared with Reader’s Digest.
On Reddit, customers from Canada and Australia say their restaurants have been rounding like this for years, and McDonald’s confirmed to us that this indeed the policy in countries where similar currency changes have taken place. You can expect to see this roll out to more international McDonald’s in the future.
When will this new rule kick in?
McDonald’s restaurants in certain areas have already begun implementing this new rule, but the company hasn’t yet announced when it’ll put the rounding policy into practice at every location.
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