In Belgium, as in the Netherlands, a roundabout way has been chosen to gradually eliminate the circulation of small red coins, without formally banning them. On 1 December 2019, a law made it mandatory to round cash prices to the nearest 0 or 5 cents, but 1 and 2 cent coins still remain valid as means of payment.
Faced with the shortage of these small coins, which complicated the lives of traders, the Belgian authorities kept in mind that these eurocents are very expensive to manufacture and are very little used, most often remaining in wallets or stored at home. A survey conducted at the beginning of 2018 had indicated to them that eight out of ten retailers and seven out of ten consumers were in favour of rounding. The arrival of Covid-19 and the increasingly frequent use of electronic payment has reinforced their position.
Euros rounded at checkout
This new law, which came into effect in December 2019, applies to the total amount of purchases paid in cash by the customer and not to each item. In practice, if the total amount of the receipt ends in 0.01 or 0.02, it will be rounded to 0; if it ends in 0.03, 0.04, 0.06 or 0.07, it will be rounded to 5 cents and if it ends in 0.08 or 0.09, it will be rounded to 10 cents.
All companies are affected by this rule, such as liberal professions and all persons, administrations, etc. who regularly carry out economic activities in relation to consumers, such as the management of a swimming pool, a library or a cultural centre, explains the Ministry of Finance.
While this law may have made consumers fear a loss of purchasing power, this prediction does not seem to have really come true. According to the Belgian consumer association Test-Achats, the impact of this measure on purchasing power has never really been studied. But on the weekly shopping basket of a household with children, the impact would be negligible a priori, says the association, as prices can be rounded up as well as down.
However, Belgian law has one weakness: some stores also use it for bank card payments, even though they are not required to do so in principle, which could end up causing consumers to lose a few euros if they are rounded up.
