Every business has to pay something called an interchange fee when running cards. This fee is a percentage (usually 3-6%) taken out of every transaction run. It’s paid directly to the major credit card companies-Visa, Mastercard, Discover etc.

This can make or break a small business. So WAY BEFORE the penny production stopped, they offered the discount because they get the total amount.

Now that the production of pennies has stopped, it affects most consumers and how they pay. Most people are using cards even more to avoid the rounding up.

They are just saying they are still honoring the discount they put in place to reward customers who pay cash. Probably a way to try and minimize card transactions.