Details if Your POS is Not Updated for EBT Chip

Until retailers are able to update their POS systems for EBT chip (insert or tap), they should ensure that terminals successfully fall back to magnetic stripe processing. A terminal update to recognize the service code of “220” is required for the terminal to identify an EBT chip card and allow fallback to magnetic stripe after one chip attempt. POS systems must also continue to accept EBT cards with the “120” service code, because magnetic stripe-only EBT cards will continue to be coded this way.

Next Steps:

  • Contact your POS service provider or Acquirer to make sure that your POS system is ready for testing ECL Fallback. This includes confirming that your POS terminals are configured to recognize the “220” service code and that ECL Fallback capabilities are turned on in case the EBT AID is unsupported (or not yet supported) by your POS system.
  • Ask your POS service provider or Acquirer for test cards to confirm successful ECL Fallback.
  • Follow the FNS test scripts and then report results using the form below.

 

 

Empty Candidate List (ECL) Fallback Explained:

If a POS device is chip-enabled but has not been updated to accept the EBT chip card, the terminal will respond to an EBT chip card in one of two ways, depending on how the transaction is attempted:

  • If the customer inserts (or taps) the EBT chip card, the POS device will recognize that it has a chip, but it will not recognize how to process a chip EBT transaction (until it has been updated for the new EBT Application Identifier). In this scenario, the POS terminal must allow the transaction to proceed via fallback to magnetic stripe. This is called “Empty Candidate List” (ECL) Fallback. ECL Fallback requires only one failed chip attempt before prompting the customer to swipe the card. In contrast, “Technical” (or EMV) Fallback, requires three failed chip transaction attempts before prompting for a card swipe.
  • If an EBT chip card is swiped before an attempted chip insert (or tap), the POS terminal should read the service code “220” on the magnetic stripe (which indicates an EBT chip card), and prompt the cardholder to insert (or tap) the card instead. In that case, the customer will attempt an EBT chip transaction, and the ECL Fallback scenario described above will occur. After the ECL Fallback, the POS terminal should allow the magnetic stripe transaction to proceed.

 

Test Scripts:

Merchants, acquirers, and financial institutions should ensure that all EBT cards continue to work during the transition period. It is important that merchants test their POS systems to ensure uninterrupted processing of SNAP with EBT chip cards. To achieve this, we strongly recommend that you utilize the ECL Test Scripts available at https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/ebt/modernization/chip-resources to ensure that your POS systems can process all SNAP EBT cards. These test scripts provide a comprehensive list of test cases that should be completed. It is highly advised to conduct these test cases in a live (production) environment to guarantee accurate results.

Please reach out to your POS service provider or Acquirer for SNAP EBT chip test cards. EBT Host Processors have supplied Acquirers with test cards to distribute for testing ECL fallback. Please keep the test cards for future testing.

Please complete the test scripts and report successful ECL Fallback using the form above. Failure to test your POS system prior to accepting customer chip cards may result in disruptions in SNAP EBT processing. If you encounter any issues during testing, please reach out to your POS service provider or Acquirer for assistance. Please note that SEMTAC and FNS are interested in collecting information about test results to better prepare and inform EBT chip card implementation.