Loose change falling from passengers’ wallets or pockets during the security screening process is so common, the Transportation Security Administration said it collects almost $1 million in change each year — and they keep it.

“Yes, the TSA keeps all the loose change collected at security checkpoints,” confirmed Kate Sullivan, head of experience, Secret Fares. “They can use this in any way they choose, without having to go through standard government appropriation procedures.”

The money does not go to individual agents, but to the agency as a whole.

“In practice, this means that most change is bundled up and remitted to the central TSA finance office and used to fund various programs,” said Sullivan. “But because there’s no appropriations procedure on left-behind cash, there’s no way to check on that. Some TSA groups will also occasionally put aside some of the money in a pool to use it to do something nice for the TSA agents working there, like coffee or an office party.”

In 2018, TSA collected $978,000 in loose change. According to Sullivan, the yearly amount has increased every year since 2011, without explanation.