Food Stamps Could Mean Money for You
Florida's change to electronic food stamps and welfare benefits may open up a market for POS equipment vendors.
The state set up an electronic benefits transfer (EBT) system to replace paper food stamps and welfare checks with a magnetic-striped card that would enable users to pay for food or draw cash from retailers' terminals or ATMs.
Retailers who wish to continue processing food stamps can have an EBT terminal installed in their stores for that purpose at no cost. But, if they also want to be able to process cash benefits, they need to purchase a standard debit/credit POS terminal and pay processing fees. Even if merchants already have terminals, they must figure out whether those terminals will accept EBT transactions and, if not, whether they want to switch to another vendor. That vendor could be you.
But, be warned, not all merchants are thrilled with the idea of purchasing equipment. If Florida merchants find the system too costly, they could disrupt the changeover by following the example of their colleagues in Louisiana. The Louisiana Retailers Association persuaded state legislators to pass a law requiring the systems operator, Deluxe Electronic Payment Systems, Inc., to pay back five cents per transaction to merchants who handle EBT.
Deluxe has responded by filing suit against the Louisiana Legislature. Similar legislation has been introduced in Arizona and Minnesota, and several other state retail associations are said to be closely watching the Louisiana case.
