SNAP Benefits Update: Can You Use Your EBT Payments to Buy in Amazon?

SNAP benefits have been helping around 41.5 million Americans provide a nutritious meal for their household, with low-income eligible recipients determined by standard requirements that differ state by state.

Usually, the size of a family's SNAP benefit is based on its income and certain expenses. Congress and the U.S. Agriculture Department have temporarily modified SNAP eligibility and benefits in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Go Banking Rates reported that SNAP benefits can be accepted through participating retail stores and fast food chains. However, a lot of vendors turn down SNAP benefits payments usually because they do not meet certain requirements.

SNAP benefits payments are deposited into recipients' accounts every month. It is done through the Electronic Benefits Transfer card or EBT card.

Almost all supermarkets take EBT payments or food stamps which can be used to buy fruits, vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, dairy products, and other food produces.

Among participating giant retail stores is Amazon, with personal finance expert Deacon Hayes saying that many people do not realize they can use SNAP benefits on Amazon.

SNAP Benefits Amazon

Hayes noted that EBT payments are accepted on Amazon as long as they are used to buy foods that qualify under the SNAP program, such as cereal, snacks, and non-alcoholic beverages.

Amazon noted that its retail stores are participating in a pilot run by the U.S. to accept SNAP EBT online.

SNAP benefits recipients can use SNAP EBT cards by visiting www.amazon.com/snap and following the instructions on the screen.

You might need to create an Amazon account, if you are not yet an Amazon customer, according to Amazon's FAQ sheet.

Prime membership is not needed to use SNAP EBT payments on Amazon. Through your EBT card, you can access Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods on Amazon without Amazon Prime.

However, Amazon Business accounts are not eligible for SNAP EBT payments as users need to sign into their personal accounts to use their EBT payments online.

SNAP benefits payments can only be used for select food items and not on other fees or tips.

Other Stores Accepting EBT Payments

Food and Nutrition Service of the U.S. Agriculture Department advise consumers to visit their retailers' websites to determine if they deliver grocery to their customers.

Some grocery stores also allow customers to order and pay for their groceries on the website using an EBT card.

Online grocery delivery service Instacart also allows its customers to use their EBT cards.

Instacart noted on its website that customers can use their SNAP EBT cards to buy groceries and skip the delivery or pickup fee for the first three EBT orders. The promotion is valid through Dec. 31, 2022 on eligible orders worth $35 or more.

Meanwhile, farmers' markets in some states even offer healthy food incentive programs. These incentives match SNAP dollars spent at farmers' markets on locally grown produce.

In the Healthy Incentives Program, SNAP beneficiaries received $1 back on their EBT card for each dollar spent on eligible fruits and vegetables, as stated on Farmers Market Legal Tool Kit website.

FNS noted that the first eight retailers to join the initial launch of SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot include Amazon, Dash's Market, Fresh Direct, Hy-Vee, Inc., and Safeway.

ShopRite, Walmart Stores Inc., and Wright's Markets were also among those that participated.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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