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THE COUNTY OF Wexford may have just eliminated the one and two cent coin from Irish pockets.
The county has been home to an experiment in rounding up and down since November. Under the scheme, prices for cash transactions were rounded to the nearest five cent.
Individual items could stay priced as they were, but totals would be rounded up or down.
The National Payments Plan, a branch of the Central Bank, says that the experiment has gone well.
“The results of the Trial were clear,” says NPP Programme Manager Ronnie O’Toole.
The answer from Wexford was a resounding yes.
“When don’t knows are excluded, 85% of consumers and 100% of retailers surveyed believe rounding should be applied nationally.”
Five EU Member States have already adopted a symmetrical rounding policy; The Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Hungary, while Belgium is currently in the process of adopting it.
Consumers expressed fears before the trial that the experiment could lead to retailers rounding prices up. However, that has not proven to be the case, mystery shoppers have found.
While the government cannot, under EU law, stop the minting of the coins, rounding means that far fewer would be needed.
The Central Bank mints many more of these small denomination coins than other coins, but they go out of circulation quickly because of stockpiling and shops constantly need fresh supplies for change.
The average cost of producing the coins exceeds their face value, with a 1c coin costing approximately 1.3c to mint. There are also significant costs associated with the transport and storage of the coins in the economy.
Chairman of the NPP, Tony Grimes, said that they were recommending the adoption of the system across the country.
“On the basis of the successful Trial, the NPP Steering Committee has now recommended to the Minister of Finance that symmetrical rounding is rolled out nationally, and that it is run on a voluntary basis for both consumers and retailers.
“This report can help inform the Minister’s decision on a national rollout.”
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What fee? I’ve never paid and I’ve used it for a few years.
It was free for the first few years but then they added the charge for new users so anyone who got it before the fee was introduced didn’t have to pay it
Ah. Thanks for that.
Yeah they were always extending my free period. I’ve been using them for quite a few years
They would ask some people for a euro after first year but if you didn’t pay I don’t think they cut you off. People were worth more to them as an active user
With so many free messaging sites why on earth would they expect you to pay anything!
Sounds like someone’s boardroom idea just went up in smoke
Because of all the other free messaging sites on earth, the one you’re using is only any good if all or most of your contacts are also using it. Otherwise you’re on your own.
Fairly simple. Tell your friends to download it. Can’t see anyone saying no. Whats another app on your phone.
I’d say they would all be downloading another chat app fairly sharpish once the current one was going to start charging you
Like others have said above, I was originally warned that I’d be paying after the first year, but never actually got charged. But I don’t think it was ever actually about charging for the service.
What it did was it created a potential revenue stream, which customers had acknowledged, thereby proving revenue potential and increasing the value of the company in terms of price:revenue
A persistently waived fee is actually quite smart in this regard.
Nice Ronan I like it.
It woulda been a euro a year ya tight fisted get!
“will instead focus on connecting businesses with users.” sounds like intrusive advertising in my book. Looks like telegram will be taking over then.
WeChat does exactly this in China. I’ve always wondered why no one does that here. I don’t want to download apps for each and every company I might ever use, only to use 99% of them only once a year or less.
I never paid a fee either, didn’t even know it was a paid app!
How’ya lunchbox?
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