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All about EBT Card Transactions
Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) is a way of issuing and processing certain benefits
electronically. The government issues Food Stamps and aid to families with dependant
children on EBT cards that resemble credit or debit cards. By the year 2002, the
government will be able to issue Social Security payments, Disability payments, and many
other government issued payments on these EBT cards. With EBT processing, you can
process these payments as you would a debit card. More and more state governments and
the federal government will be moving to this form of payment processing to reduce paper
work and control fraud.
With EBT transactions, you should keep these two simple rules in mind:
1. EBT transactions can only be performed in a Retail or "face to face" environment. If
you are a Mail Order type business, you cannot perform EBT transactions.
2. EBT transactions require you to have a card reader and PIN pad attached to your
computer.
As with debit card processing, EBT processing is a two step process. EBT processors are
typically Host Based. As with every Host-based System, you may have the ability to be set
up for either Auto (Time Initiated) Close or Manual Close. Consult your merchant
services provider to see what method is available and what method best suits your needs.
There are four types of EBT card transactions. The types are based on the kind of benefit
being processed. For instance, if you are processing a transaction with food stamps, you
will want to use the transaction type called Food Stamps. The reason for the different types
of transactions is that there are different rules governing each type of benefit.
1. Cash -- Use this transaction type if you are processing a transaction with an EBT card
that was issued for a social security payment.
2. Food Stamp -- Use this transaction type if you are processing a food stamp
transaction and want to take money from the EBT cardholder's account.
3. Food Stamp Credit -- Use this transaction type if you are processing a food stamp
transaction and want to deposit money into the EBT cardholder's account.
4. Account Inquiry -- This transaction allows you to inquire into a customer's account.
You are able to dial into the EBT processing company and view a customer's account.
This transaction is not specific to a benefit type. You will be able to perform an inquiry
regardless of the type of benefit.
In the next four sections we will break down each transaction type and describe each action
available.
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