Overview
- A Facebook video shows a Kaufland customer paying for a low-cost item with large amounts of change to receive banknotes as change, promoted as a fee-free way to swap coins.
- Social media responses are split, with retail workers calling the tactic misuse of self-checkouts and some users reporting warnings or even store bans after trying it.
- Stores have introduced measures such as posted notices, hard caps on coins per purchase—reported at 50 or even 10—and card-only rules at some self-checkout lanes; Kaufland did not answer a media query about problems.
- The European Consumer Centre Germany states there is no obligation to accept more than 50 coins in a single payment in euro-area countries.
- Official alternatives include free coin-for-note exchanges at Bundesbank branches, while some banks offer limited services, and supermarket coin machines can charge steep fees reported up to 12 percent with voucher restrictions.