PORTLAND, Maine — Maine's oldest credit union will stop accepting coins starting Sept. 1. Infinity Credit Union is the first credit union in Maine to make the switch, after merging with an Illinois-based credit union now going by Empeople.
As more people use digital payment methods rather than cash or coins, will it soon be a thing of the past?
The Maine Credit Union League thinks Infinity's decision isn't indicative of a future trend, according to the association's assistant vice president for communication and outreach, Jen Burke.
"This is just one credit union making a business decision," Burke said.
The Maine Credit Union represents all of the state's 49 credit unions. She said there is no indication any of them will stop accepting coins.
"A lot of them have reached out to us to say 'Hey, we are not making any kind of a change,'" Burke said. "I do not see this becoming any kind of a bigger trend."
According to a Forbes Advisor survey from February, 54% of respondents said they use debit cards as their primary form of payment, while 36% use credit cards.
That same survey shows only 9% of respondents use cash as their primary way to make purchases.
"When I look at the amount of volume we see for check activity, or for coin and currency activity, it has decreased. But it's still a pretty significant part of the transaction arena for us," deCastro said.
Gorham Savings Bank President and CEO, Steve deCastro, said new technologies that make digital transactions possible are replacing some of the traditional forms of payment, but he doesn't anticipate check, cash, or coin going away anytime soon.
"There is a big segment of our customer base that they rely on and are comfortable with those more traditional methods of buying things," he said. "I just think it would be a really tough transition for a large part of our population."