SNAP benefits EBT payments online will be made easier after Forage, a payments processor, raised $22 million in a funding round that included Instacart's founder.

The new funding will be used for product development and hiring, according to a Win Sight Grocery Business report.

Forage co-founder and CEO Ofek Lavian said the collected money will help ramp up the company's mission to "democratize access to government benefits." The funding round was led by finance-technology firm Nyca, along with PayPal ventures, EO Ventures, and Instacart's Apoorva Mehta.

Lavian added that they are proud of the technology they have built and are looking forward to expand the SNAP EBT payments online for low-income U.S. citizens.

SNAP benefits 2022 are used through Electronic Benefits Transfer cards. It allows recipients to pay for food using SNAP benefits, with it being in use in all 50 states.

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EBT Payments Online

Forage said in a press release that SNAP benefits are accepted in 250,000 brick-and-mortar locations through the EBT card. However, only a small percentage have been approved to accept EBT payments online, as reported by PYMNTS.

Tom Brown, partner at Nyca Partners, a FinTech specialist firm that led the funding round, said Forage is addressing a "critical problem for consumers and merchants" with more customers buying their goods online.

Forage added that the 42 million American recipients who receive SNAP benefits 2022 lack easy access to grocery stores or still physical stores due to the COVID-19.

Forage's move was announced after Instacart announced that it will be expanding its EBT payments online by offering the service to 10 new states.

Instacart said in their announcement that its decision will benefit almost 30 million Americans dealing with food insecurity, offering them in-store shopping and curbside pick-up.

SNAP Benefits 2022

SNAP benefits in California, called CalFresh, will be among the states to distribute the benefit this August.

Go Banking Rates reported that California also participates in the Restaurant Meals Program, which is an option that allows recipients to buy prepared meals at restaurants with their SNAP benefits.

Certain standards apply in RMP. To be eligible, one must be age 60 or older, disabled, homeless, or the spouse of a SNAP recipient who is qualified for the RMP.

CalFresh benefits are commonly released over the first 10 days of each month. The schedule depends on the last digit of the recipients' case number. The average benefit per household member per month is at $141 while the number of recipients is projected to be around 3.79 million.

Meanwhile, Colorado has a monthly average benefit per household member worth $128, with the number of recipients were approximately 450,000.

Florida also offers an average benefit per household member per month worth $127 with the number of recipients in the state seen to be around 2.85 million, as reported by another Go Banking Rates.

Meanwhile, Texas has an average benefit per household member worth $125.

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This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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