The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has undergone significant modernization since its creation, including the introduction of Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) payment cards to replace paper vouchers and coupons in the 1980s. EBT payment cards allow an individual on SNAP to be able to purchase eligible food items at authorized retail stores, such as a convenience or grocery store. Today, modernization efforts are now focused on updating EBT cards to include microchip technology, like what we see on debit and credit cards. Currently, two states – California and Oklahoma – are actively exploring and working to transition their states’ EBT cards to chip cards. However, as EBT skimming and fraud continues to be reported in the media, other states may be soon to follow in this transition. The goal of this webinar is to:

• Inform SNAP retailers about the status of the transition to EBT chip cards.
• Equip SNAP retailers with the technical information needed to update their payments systems in order to accept EBT chip cards.
• Address the technical challenges SNAP retailers may face as they update their payment systems internally.