ST. CLOUD -- That pile of loose change in your car is worth more than you may think.

According to the Federal Reserve, the COVID-19 pandemic has created a national shortage of coins, which has affected several businesses.

Coborn's Chief Financial Officer Jim Shaw says shortage has affected the amount of coins they get from the bank, which has caused their stores to shift to a "card only" policy in their self-check out lanes.

We have moved our self checkout to credit only. We are still accepting cash at our regular check lanes, but we are asking our guest for exact change if possible.

He says they are hopeful the new "card only" policy is temporary, but are waiting to hear more information from the bank.

Shaw says they are looking into other alternatives to help their stores cope with the coin shortage.

We don't have a sense from the bank on when we will get an adequate supply, so we are looking at other avenues to help gain supply for our stores. If we are successful in that we are hoping to open some of those self checkout lanes sooner rather than later.

He says their banking partners are encouraging people to take their change jars to the banks to help the coin supply chain returns to normal.

In addition, Shaw says starting Wednesday all Coborn's stores are inviting guests to round their bill to the nearest dollar, with the difference being donated to local food shelves.

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