Massachusetts to Pilot Chip-Enabled EBT Cards for SNAP Benefits Later This Year

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey announced on Monday that the state will begin piloting chip and tap-enabled Electronic Benefits Transfer cards later this year for recipients of public benefits, including those in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The program aims to prevent theft by upgrading from magnetic stripe cards to more secure chip technology. This makes Massachusetts the third state to implement such cards, following Alabama and California, where recipients have already received them, and several other states with programs in progress.

The Department of Transitional Assistance, which administers SNAP, will start the pilot at an unspecified date later this year. The state has notified approximately 5,500 SNAP-authorized retailers to update their point-of-sale systems for the new cards. 6 billion in benefits annually to households in Massachusetts, funded entirely by federal dollars as part of the $100 billion national program.

than 1 million people in Massachusetts, or about one in six residents, receive SNAP benefits, including children, the elderly, and individuals with disabilities.

The Greater Boston area accounts for more than half of all participants, according to a previous analysis of data from Boston Indicators. The pilot targets protections against common theft methods, such as criminals installing skimmers on point-of-sale devices to steal magnetic stripe information for fraudulent purchases.

>"Massachusetts is taking action to protect families and the programs they rely on to afford groceries and other essential goods.

" — Governor Maura Healey (The Boston Globe) The Healey administration stated that SNAP fraud is extremely rare, with less than one percent of the caseload found to have committed fraud. Federal authorization for chip and tap-enabled EBT cards occurred in 2024, with implementation guidance provided to states in August of the previous year.

Last year, Healey proposed and state lawmakers passed funding to initiate the transition to these cards.

claims by federal and state officials have highlighted potential fraud in public assistance programs, including SNAP.

U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley announced the arrests of nine people accused of collecting $943,000 from such programs, including nearly $150,000 in SNAP benefits. In response, Foley created a new Benefit and Voter Fraud Team to address benefit and voter fraud in the state.

The Trump administration has implemented changes to SNAP, including eligibility criteria and allowable food purchases, and established a task force on fraud through an executive order last month. The Healey administration has pushed back against some federal actions.

Michael Cole, commissioner of the Department of Transitional Assistance, stated that the new cards will reduce opportunities for benefits to be stolen.