The Federal Reserve announced today that it is forming a task force to address the issue of low coin inventories during the coronavirus pandemic—an issue that several American Bankers Association members have raised in recent days. The task force—which includes representatives from the Fed, the U.S. Mint, armored carriers, and several industry stakeholders including ABA—will work to identify and implement potential solutions to reduce these disruptions. The task force will hold its first meeting in early July, with the goal of creating its first set of recommendations by the end of the month.
With many physical retail businesses and other firms closed during the pandemic, the Fed noted that the coin supply chain has seen significant disruption in recent days. “The Federal Reserve is working on many fronts with our industry partners, including the U.S. Mint, to minimize supply constraints and maximize coin production capacity,” the Fed noted. “We are encouraging depository institutions to order only the coin they need to meet near-term customer demand and to remove barriers to customer coin deposits.”
