Say Goodbye to the Penny: Make it Count at BMO (2024)

FAQs

Does BMO accept pennies? ›

If I'm paying a bill at my bank, can I use pennies? Yes, pennies continue to be legal tender in Canada and banks accept them for cash payments.

Standard bags of loose coin received by us will be verified by weight. If the contents of the Deposit Bag do not conform to the Deposit Ticket, we will deposit such contents as they are found therein.

Find a Kiosk

You can get cash in just a few minutes using a Coinstar^® machine. It's so simple. You don't have to count, sort, or roll your coins.

"BMO's free coin counters are a convenient way for Canadians to cash-in on their pennies." BMO coin counters are able to count Canadian coins at a rate of up to 4,000 per minute.

You may not like what you're about to learn: pennies are still legal tender. That means you can still use them at stores, and you can still deposit them at the bank.

While certain credit unions and banks still have coin-counting machines, many banks don't offer them anymore and will require your coins to be rolled before accepting them. If you haven't already, group your change into separate piles of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters.

Is this legal? Yes. A bank can set its own internal policy as to whether it will accept or exchange unrolled coins for currency.

Credit unions or community banks are more likely to have free coin-counting machines for members. Coinstar machines are in many supermarkets, and Publix has its own machines. You may be charged up to a 11.9% processing fee if you wish to convert your coins into cash.

Community banks and credit unions

Many big banks have phased out their coin-counting services in recent years, but the regional banks or credit unions that do offer coin exchange likely do so at no cost to customers. There may be a small fee for noncustomers to use the bank's coin-counting services.

Canadians can redeem their pennies at their financial institution. Financial institutions may require that pennies be properly rolled.

Do coin counting machines take pennies? ›

To process coins, loose change is poured into the machine. In the United States, the machine accepts all denominations of coins from one-cent coins to one-dollar coins, its only restriction being 1943 steel cents and Eisenhower Dollars.

Pennies can also be exchanged for their face value at financial institutions. And yep, you guessed it—consumers can still exchange Canadian pennies in our Coinstar machines in Canada.

BMO. BMO, like most other banks we contacted, doesn't offer coin counters. However, it does allow customers to deposit or exchange wrapped coins.

If your financial institution doesn't have a machine you should still be able to deposit coins, though it means you'll probably have to put them into rolls. (Many banks will give you free roll papers or you can buy them at Staples or Office Depot.)

If you have unwanted Canadian coins, coins that U.S. banks and retail establishments won't accept, cash them in at Canadian Coin Exchange. Will buy your coins and convert them to U.S. cash fast and easy. Most U.S. banks do not accept Canadian coins. Canadian Coin Exchange does.

Take these into the bank and the teller will be able to weigh them to check you have the right number of coins, then credit them to your account. This is the most cost-effective method because it means every penny goes straight to your account.

The federal law, Coinage Act of 1965, says that coins and cash are “legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes, and dues.” However, the federal government is not going to tell you what you will or will not accept for payments.

Canadians can redeem pennies at their financial institutions. The Government encourages Canadians to consider donating them to charities.

If you want to use pennies to buy from a vending machine, you would have to insert a handful of them. This is just not practical, and so vending machines have been programmed to not accept pennies for this reason.