Barbados Phases Out One Cent Coins

Effective today (May 7, 2014), the Central Bank of Barbados will no longer be issuing one cents.  The phasing out of the one cent coins will only affect the way that cash transactions are handled.

What does this mean for travellers?

Banks and retailers will no longer be tendering one cents, instead a ’rounding’ system will take effect.  So for example if you are changing foreign currency to local currency at the bank the converted amount will be rounded up or down to the nearest five cents.  Or if paying in cash at the register, the total of all the items to be purchased (not the individual prices) will be rounded up or down to the nearest five cents.

The maximum gain or loss for any single transaction is .02. Non-cash transactions, e.g. those made using debit or credit cards, will not be subject to rounding as exact payment can be made.

Rounding down will occur with totals ending in .01 or .02 cents (these will be rounded down to .00) and totals ending in .06 or .07 (these will be rounded down to .05).

Rounding up will occur with totals ending in .03 or .04 (these will be rounded up to .05) and totals ending in .08 and .09 (these will be rounded up to .10).

Click here to view educational flyer from the Central Bank of Barbados: Barbados Phases Out Cents (May 7 2014)

Note: Although one cents will no longer be issued, they will remain legal tender and can continue to be spent at retailers that choose to accept them, or alternatively, exchanged at financial institutions indefinitely.

Source: Central Bank of Barbados www.centralbank.org.bb