Prices will be rounded. How will the new law affect mobile payments?

From July 1, 2022, Slovakia will become another European country that will round prices in an effort to limit the use of one and two percent coins. This week, the deputies of the National Council of the Slovak Republic approved a new law of the Ministry of Finance. However, we will not get rid of annoying cents completely, they still remain legal tender.

With this step, the Ministry of Finance wants to relieve entrepreneurs from the costs associated with handling one- and two-cent coins. He also believes that this will have a positive effect on the environment by reducing the use of packaging material and the number of small coin shipments.

The final purchase amount was rounded according to mathematical rules when paying in cash

Only the final purchase price will be rounded, not individual items. The change also applies only when paying in cash, when paying by card the customer pays the original, unrounded amount. In practice, this means that if the seller tells you the amount of 3.66 euros at the checkout, you will pay only 3.65 euros in cash according to the rules of rounding. When paying by card, nothing changes and the original 3.66 euros will be deducted from your account.

For payments up to 5 cents, it will be rounded to 5 cents. For higher amounts, it will be rounded classically, according to mathematical rules.

Price before rounding	Price after rounding	Note
0,01€	0,05€	Price up to and including 0.01 €, which would be rounded up to € 0.00, rounded up, to € 0.05
0,02€	0,05€	Price up to and including 0.02 €, which would be rounded up to € 0.00, rounded up, to € 0.05
0,03€	0,05€	Rounding up
0,04€	0,05€	Rounding up
0,05€	0,05€	Price is not rounded
0,06€	0,05€	Round down
0,07€	0,05€	Round down
0,08€	0,10€	Rounding up
0,09€	0,10€	Rounding up
0,10€	0,10€	Price is not rounded

Will the change also apply to mobile payments?

Services like Google Pay or Apple Pay only serve as an intermediary and use your credit card information when paying by mobile phone. It is therefore only another form of card payment to which the new law does not apply.

And what about payments for goods ordered from the Internet?

As the new law only applies to cash payments, everything remains the same when paying in advance for goods ordered online. However, the ministry did not comment on cash-on-delivery payments. Most courier companies accept both cash and card payments. For the time being, it remains questionable whether rounding will also have to be handled by e-shops, for example in the form of an invoice with two different amounts, or cash on delivery payments will be exempted from the law.

How will rounding work when combining payments?

In the case of combined payments (for example, a combination of a payment card and meal tickets), the situation is slightly complicated. The Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic has therefore published several examples on which it explains the rules of the new law.

Combination of cash payment and meal vouchers:

The final purchase price before rounding is € 48.34.
The buyer wants to pay with two meal vouchers worth € 3.83 (total € 7.66) and pay the rest in cash. The value of meal tickets, as it is not cash, is deducted from the resulting unrounded purchase price.

The remaining purchase price paid in cash, ie 48.33 – 7.66 = € 40.68, was mathematically rounded up, mathematically upwards, to € 40.70. The buyer pays in cash 40,70 €. The final purchase price after rounding will be € 48.36.

Combination of cash and credit card payment:

1. The final purchase price is € 48.32.
   The buyer wants to pay € 20 in cash and the rest by credit card.
   € 20 is deducted from the final value of the purchase, ie 48.32 – 20 = € 28.32.
   The buyer will pay extra 28,32 € payment card without rounding.
2. The final purchase price is € 48.32
   The buyer wants to pay in cash € 8.32 and the rest by credit card.
   The buyer will pay 8,30 € (€ 8.32 are mathematically rounded down) and pay the remaining € 40.02 with a payment card without rounding.

Complaints / return of goods and services:

The final purchase price was € 58.42, paid in cash, ie rounded to € 58.40.

1. The buyer complains about the entire purchase and returns all goods from the block / purchase. It will be refunded the rounded amount (the one that was paid in cash at the time of purchase), ie 58,40 €.
2. The buyer claims only one item from the purchase, e.g. for 8.42 €. The returned cash is rounded, ie it will be returned to him 8,40 €.

Payment for goods and services by voucher or prepaid (eg gift) card and cash surcharge:

The buyer buys the goods together for 40 €. He pays by prepaid card, which has a balance of EUR 25.01. The cashier will run out of card and a surcharge of € 14.99 paid in cash will be rounded to the nearest 15 €.

Loyalty transactions where the buyer pays with the accumulated points plus a surcharge:

The goods have a price of 500 points and a surcharge of € 10.72. The cash surcharge is rounded to 10,70 €. The surcharge paid non-cash has not been rounded, the buyer will pay 10,72 €.