The rounding rule for the price of a basket of shopping will start to apply in all points of sale in Estonia from 1 January 2025, and it will see the total price of purchases paid for in cash rounded to the nearest five cents. The change will need merchants to set their till systems and accounting software appropriately and will need them to be ready to explain the change to their customers.

“The change will make paying in cash quicker and simpler and will in the long-run cut cash-handling costs for businesses, but it will need them to make a one-off effort first, as their till systems will have to be updated and their staff trained, and they will need to be ready to explain the change to their customers when it is introduced”, said Nele Peil, head of the Estonian Traders Association. She said that the association has already informed its members and the largest till system operators in Estonia about the need to make the preparations, and she emphasised that they will have to update their software in good time this year, because each merchant is responsible for their own readiness for the change.

Imre Reinson, CEO of the software company Nixor that operates in Estonia, said that the change needed to till systems because of the rounding rule would be small, and most users would be able to set the parameters for the rounding rule in the software that they are already using. If that cannot be done, the need for software development would still be small. The software updates made necessary by the law would normally be carried out within the contract of merchants who hold a licence for their software. “Each merchant must check for themselves how ready their business software provider is for the change, and how they can take the necessary steps together. They should also consider how their financial accounting will handle the sums generated by the rounding, whether they need to change how they separate and keep cash in the till drawer, and what their sales staff and cashiers will say to customers who are taken by surprise by the change”, he said.

As well as changing their till systems and financial software, merchants will also have to make sure that they display information about the rounding rules clearly, on the wall of the shop for example or on a screen or as a message at the checkout. It is important for the rounded final price that is to be paid for the goods or services to be clearly visible for customers paying in cash so that they can easily distinguish it from the sales price and the unit prices of the goods or the final price of services.

Six other euro area countries have already introduced the rounding rule. The nearest of them to Estonia is Finland, where Prisma Peremarket, which also operates in Estonia, had to adapt to the change. Country manager for Estonia at Prisma Teemu Kilpiä said that customers and cashiers in Finland have got used to using the rounding rule and and it makes paying at tills faster and simpler. He said though that it was best to start making preparations now in order to be ready in good time for the rounding of prices, and so that the transition would happen smoothly.

What does the rounding rule for one and two cents mean?

The rounding rule for one and two cents will start to apply in points of sale in 2025, and it will mean that the final price of a basket of shopping will be rounded to the nearest five cents when customers pay in cash. One and two-cent coins will no longer be given out as change. Prices that end in one, two, six or seven cents will be rounded downwards, while those ending in three, four, eight or nine cents will be rounded upwards.

EXAMPLE

If something costs 3.76 euros, the final price of it when paying in cash is 3.75 euros, but if a different means of payment such as a bank card is used then the final price remains the price advertised for the item of 3.76 euros. If the item costs 3.78 euros, the final price for payments in cash will be 3.80 euros.

The rounding will not affect the legal validity of one and two-cent coins. If the purchaser wants to pay with them, the shop will accept them, and there are no plans to change this. Only five-cent coins and larger will be given as change in shops from the start of next year.

The rounding will only affect payments in cash, and only the final price of a basket of shopping will be affected, not the individual prices of each item within it. Nothing will change for payments made by card. The purchaser chooses how they want to pay, and the seller has no right to refuse any one or other means of payment. Online purchases are made electronically, and those prices will not be rounded.

The rounding will not affect the pricing policy of shops, as they will be able to ask whatever price they want for their goods, be that 9.99 euros or 2.21.

Read more from the FAQ about the rounding rule on the Eesti Pank website.

Additional information:
Viljar Rääsk
Head of Communications
Eesti Pank
5275 055
Email: [email protected]
Press enquiries: [email protected]

Ministry of Finance
[email protected]