In response to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s decision to end production of the penny in 2026, Kwik Trip has a new cash transaction policy. All cash purchases at Kwik Trip and Kwik Star locations will now be rounded down to the nearest five cents, the convenience-store retailer has announced.
The Treasury Department did not provide guidance on how to proceed, so Kwik Trip decided to round down, it said, “ensuring a guest-friendly approach.” The company will continue this approach until a permanent legislative solution has been enacted, it said.
While the penny remains legal tender, Kwik Trip’s updated register systems will automatically apply rounding rules to all cash transactions, rounding down in the customer’s favor. Digital and card-based transactions will remain unaffected and continue to be processed at the exact purchase amount.
“At Kwik Trip, we’re committed to making everyday transactions simple and fair,” said Scott Zietlow, CEO and president of Kwik Trip. “This change reflects our ongoing focus on guest experience. We apologize for any confusion this may create for our guests.”
- Kwik Trip is No. 11 on CSP’s 2025 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count.
La Crosse, Wisconsin-based Kwik Trip is a family-owned company that serves 12 million customers each week with more than 900 convenience stores. It produces many of the products featured in Kwik Trip and Kwik Star stores supplied by its own commissary, bakery, dairy and distribution center located in La Crosse. Kwik Trip operates in Wisconsin, Minnesota and northern Michigan under the Kwik Trip name, and in Iowa, Illinois and
South Dakota under the Kwik Star banner. It is opening its first c-store in North Dakota in November under the Kwik Star name.
Common Cents
The convenience-store industry is highlighting the need for legislation on the issue. On Sept. 30, the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) , the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America (SIGMA), the National Association of Truck Stop Operators (NATSO) and other retail groups met with Treasury Department officials and sent a letter to the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees urging them to pass federal legislation to allow businesses to continue carrying out cash transactions as issues arise.
The associations are backing a national law, the Common Cents Act (H.R. 3074 and S. 1525), allowing businesses to round transactions to the nearest nickel, ensure rounding for cash customers does not violate terms of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and facilitates check cashing at retail locations.
“If these remedies are not addressed in short order, it will be challenging to legally engage in cash transactions with customers in growing swaths of the country,” the groups said in the letter.
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