End of an Era: TD Bank Retires Coin-Counting Machines

America's Most Convenient Bank has suddenly become a little less convenient.

TD Bank announced Thursday that it is doing away with the Penny Arcade coin-counting machines that are stationed in more than 1,000 of its branches along the East Coast.

The bank suspended the coin-counting service in early April after it was discovered that the machines were not counting coins properly, and it has decided to retire the machines for good after concluding that they are too unreliable to "ensure a consistently great experience for our customers," consumer banking chief Michael Rhodes said in a news release.

Accuracy concerns had been raised on NBC's "Today" show, and a customer lawsuit filed in April in federal court in Camden County, N.J., alleged the machines "have continuously undercounted coins placed in them by consumers for years and resulted in the loss of millions of dollars for consumers," according to reports in the Courier-Post in Cherry Hill, N.J.

The $245 billion-asset TD, a unit of Toronto-Dominion Bank, inherited the coin counters — and the 'America's Most Convenient Bank' tagline — when it acquired Cherry Hill-based Commerce Bank in 2008. Over the years, TD has often touted conveniences like seven-day-a-week banking and the coin counters in its marketing.

At one time, the machines could be used free of charge to anyone who walked in the branch, but TD began charging noncustomers several years ago. Rhodes said the steady decline in usage over the years contributed to the decision to retire the machines.

TD is the second large bank to remove coin-counters from branches in recent years. Capital One, which inherited the machines when it acquired Chevy Chase Bank, pulled the plug on its machines in the Washington, D.C., area in 2014, calling them "unreliable."

TD said it will continue to accept pre-rolled coins at its branches from customers at no charge.