Toucan’s Acquiring and Switch solution enables Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) across USA
Electronic benefit transfer (EBT) is a system that allows US state welfare departments to issue benefits via a magnetically encoded payment card across America. EBT reached nationwide operations in 2004 with an average monthly payout of ~$230 per participant.
EBT is an electronic system that allows a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participant to pay for food using SNAP benefits. When a participant shops at a SNAP authorized retail store, their SNAP EBT account is debited to reimburse the store for food that was purchased.
Broadly, EBT provides two types of benefits:
Food
Food benefits are federally authorized benefits that can be used only to purchase food and non-alcoholic beverages. Food benefits are distributed through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP was created with the intention to provide nutritional support to low-income households across the United States of America.
Cash
Cash benefits include state general assistance, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) benefits, and refugee benefits.