The USDA Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is partnering with five States to test mobile payment technology in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as SNAP. In the next few years, SNAP participants in Illinois, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, and Oklahoma will have the option to use mobile payment methods – like tapping or scanning their personal mobile device – as an alternative to their physical SNAP card.
The Mobile Payment Pilots are complex projects involving a wide range of stakeholders carefully coordinating efforts. FNS will work with State agencies as well as EBT processors, mobile wallet providers, retailers, and more to support a successful rollout in the pilot States. Neither retailers nor SNAP households are required to participate in the pilots — stores can decide whether to adopt the new technology and make contactless payments available to their SNAP customers, and shoppers can continue to use their EBT card if that’s how they prefer to pay.
More information about the current pilot and participating States can be found in the press release issued March 8, 2023, from which the above information was excerpted, or on the FNS Mobile Payment Pilots website.
If FNS decides to accept more projects into the Mobile Payment Pilots, they will make an announcement and invite new applicants. SEMTAC will be available to provide technical assistance for mobile payment pilot projects as directed by FNS. If you have any questions, please email the SNAP Mobile Payment Pilots mailbox: sm.fn.snapmobile@usda.gov.
