Yahoo Finance New £1 coin: Tesco to unlock every trolley as it misses deadline
Tesco is unlocking 100,000 of its coin-operated supermarket trolleys after the grocery giant failed to convert them in time for the launch of the 12-sided £1 coin on Tuesday.
A Tesco spokesperson said: “We’re replacing the locks on our trolleys to accept old and new pound coins as well as existing trolley tokens. We will unlock all our trolleys while this process takes place so customers will not be affected by the changes.”
Councils across the country are already dealing with a surge in the number of carts abandoned on streets and in canals following the introduction of the plastic bag tax, which prompted some shoppers to take trolleys home rather than pay the charge.
The unlocking of the Tesco fleet at 200 of its biggest stores across the UK could provoke a fresh surge of trolley abuse, with shoppers having no financial incentive to return them.
Other supermarket groups including Sainsbury’s, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi and Lidl said their trolleys had been fully converted.
The new £1 coin could also pose problems for drivers, with an estimated one in 10 parking meters and machines around Britain not yet ready.
KitKat chaos also looms, with 15% of Britain’s 500,000 vending machines unable to accept the new coin, despite the industry spending £32m to upgrade them.
All parking meters and vending machines will continue to accept the old £1 coins until they are withdrawn from circulation and cease to be legal tender.
Jonathan Hart of the Automatic Vending Association said: “On 28 March, when the new £1 coin goes into circulation, we estimate that 85% of machines will be able to accept the new £1 coin while all will still accept the original £1 coin which remains in circulation until 15 October.
“Vending engineers are working hard to complete the upgrades as fast as possible and prioritising vending machines that are most visible to the public, such as those on retail sites,” he said.
Dave Smith of the British Parking Association said some meters were more than 20 years old and were still to be converted or replaced. “The majority will be updated in time for the launch of the new £1 coin, but a few of the older ones cannot be converted. It will be up to councils to replace them or go cashless.”
He said the changeover had been “a massive programme” but that about 10% of machines would not be fully ready.
Drivers should keep a mix of the old and new £1 coins in their cars while the changeover takes place, Smith said.
The rollout of the new coins begins on 28 March, with the Royal Mint already distributing the first of the £1.5bn worth to secret distribution centres around the UK.
The switch has happened because the old round one has become increasingly vulnerable to counterfeiters. The Royal Mint reckons one in 30 £1 coins are fake.
“You should continue to spend any of the current £1 coins you carry as normal,” the mint says. In fact, the public will be urged to spend their round pounds as soon as possible, because they will be melted down to make the new coins.
Families who have lots of £1 coins saved in a money box, jam jar or giant whisky bottle should spend them or take them to a bank before 15 October. Most high street banks, however, should continue to allow people to pay round pounds into their account after the cutoff date.
The deadline for the withdrawal of the paper £5 note also looms in six weeks’ time. It will cease to be legal tender status from 5 May.
Despite the rise of the cashless society, coins remain popular and mintage figures are stable. There are nearly 29bn coins across all denominations in circulation in the UK, with a face value of more than £4bn.
