Since the beginning of the pandemic, a record number of Americans have claimed or tried to claim food assistance benefits in order to feed their families. As a result, more and more food retailers are accepting food benefits as payment.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (or SNAP) allows people to pay in-store for groceries with an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card. More and more grocery stores in more and more states are accepting these kinds of benefits, and this acceptance is expanding into online grocery delivery.
Keep reading to see details on Shipt grocery delivery services, and whether or not they accept EBT as payment for their services. We’ll also discuss some other details of the SNAP program and go over a list of other grocery services that accept EBT cards as payment.
Does Shipt Accept SNAP EBT?
Online services that deliver foods have traditionally been ineligible for SNAP benefits. The reason for this is likely due to the fact that it is difficult to regulate payments with online orders, and the USDA has been slow on implementing new ways for recipients to spend their benefits.
However, in light of the global coronavirus pandemic, more and more people are receiving SNAP benefits, and many new eligible services are popping up as a result. However, not all grocery delivery services will take EBT as payment.
Shipt is a delivery service owned by Target Corporation. Their business model involves delivering groceries, home products, and select electronics from local retailers directly to the doorsteps of their customers. Since their inception in 2014, they have quickly grown to encompass many metropolitan areas across the continental US.
Unfortunately, due to USDA regulations, Shipt does not accept EBT as payment for their services. SNAP benefits recipients hoping to get grocery delivery from Shipt will have to look elsewhere.
If you want more information on Shipt services and the types of payment they accept, you can visit their customer service page.
Luckily, there are a number of other services that do accept EBT cards. We’ll discuss the available alternatives later on in this article. For now, let’s take a look at the reasons why Shipt won’t accept EBT cards as payment.
Does Shipt Plan To Take EBT In The Future?
Although the Shipt website shows that they accept all major credit cards as payment, it apologizes for the inconvenience that they cannot accept EBT. There are likely a few different specific reasons why this is the case, but we’ll discuss that later in the article. The question is; will Shipt begin accepting EBT in the future?
Shipt currently has no plans to begin accepting EBT cards in the foreseeable future. SNAP benefit recipients are encouraged to find other grocery delivery services to meet their needs.
If you want more information on what types of payment are accepted at Shipt, you can visit their customer service page. Next up, we’ll be taking a look at why Shipt doesn’t accept EBT cards as payment.
Why Doesn’t Shipt Take EBT?
The SNAP benefits program in its current form is relatively new. The question of feeding those who cannot feed themselves is a hot button issue, and has undergone a number of regulatory changes since it switched over from the food stamp program back in 2008.
As a result, the eligibility of people receiving SNAP benefits, as well as the stores that accept EBT cards, has changed quite a bit. This process has been accelerated by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic in the US.
The main reason Shipt doesn’t take EBT is that USDA regulations still restrict the service from being eligible to accept EBT. EBT cards also lack the CVV number used on debit and credit cards to verify online payments.
In the end, this is mostly a security and regulation issue. Customers wishing to get grocery delivery with EBT cards will have to look elsewhere. Luckily there are grocery delivery services available that accept EBT as payment for their services, which we will go over now.
What Grocery Delivery Service Accepts EBT?
The popularity of grocery delivery has traditionally been limited to those individuals who are unable to properly shop for their own groceries in-store.
This includes the elderly, the disabled, and people who live far from urban centers with no effective way of transporting themselves to and from the grocery store.
With more and more people ordering food online as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic, the popularity of online grocery delivery has boomed. More and more people are ordering food online as they try to limit their exposure to other people in public in order to preserve their health.
Currently, the only online delivery service that accepts EBT cards is Amazon. Amazon runs their ‘FRESH’ grocery delivery service in a number of US cities, and allows customers to have fresh produce delivered directly to their door.
However, it’s important to note that since EBT payments are restricted to food items only, it is not possible to pay for delivery fees using EBT. Customers using EBT to pay for grocery delivery from Amazon will still need to pay the delivery fees through some other means.
You may also be interested in similar articles such as does Costco take EBT, does Whole Foods accept EBT Cards and does Amazon take EBT?
Conclusion…
SNAP benefits have undergone a number of changes since they switched over from the food stamp program back in 2008. As more people start warming up to the idea of grocery delivery services, the amount of options at your disposal to pay for groceries with EBT should begin to expand as well.
That being said, the only online grocery delivery service available for SNAP benefit recipients to pay with EBT is currently Amazon. Furthermore, Amazon Fresh delivery services are only available in a select number of cities across the US. Still, though, it’s a start.
The main difficulty with accepting EBT payments for online grocery orders is the lack of CVV number on EBT cards. The CVV is used as a secondary security measure and allows online retailers to confirm that the card you use for payment actually belongs to you. Since EBT cards lack a CVV, they are difficult to verify for online orders.