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Education

A primer on EBT acceptance than a state-issued one. The Food and

Nutrition Service (FNS), a division of
the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
handles the EBT and WIC programs.

Know the programs

WIC consists of federal grants made
to states for supplemental foods for
low-income pregnant, breastfeeding
and non-breastfeeding post-partum
By Bill Pirtle women, and for infants and children
up to age five who are at nutritional
Clearent LLC risk. WIC covers specific items and
quantities to designated cardholders.
f you want to sell to convenience and grocery stores, you will need WIC provides terminals with scan-
basic knowledge of government-subsidized food programs, such as ners that account for each item card-
the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program and Supplemental holders are allotted for the month.
I Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which was formerly the Food Some POS systems can connect to
Stamp Program, as well as Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) payments. this system, but it is not common.

Many processors consider EBT as an afterthought. Understanding how it works EBT payments are sometimes re-
may benefit you when pursuing merchants in this niche. Many processor or ferred to as food stamps, because
ISO Schedule A's treat EBTs in the same way as PIN (personal identification before electronic cards were issued,
number) debits, although they are not always priced the same. people were issued coupons in book-
lets to pay for staples under the Food
This article will cover differences between EBT and WIC benefits and discuss Stamp Program, which is now SNAP.
when it makes sense for merchants to use a terminal provided by you rather
With EBT, the state issues the funding
on a set day of the month, and card-
holders may buy any type of food
they wish. A product with a nutrition
label is classified as food and eligible;
a supplement label designates a prod-
uct as a supplement, which is not eli-
gible.

Business owners may apply to the
FNS under two criteria:

1. They hold in inventory at least
36 staple foods across four catego-
ries.
2. Fifty percent or more of all sales
are staple foods.
Businesses may contract through
their states for a POS device that only
works with EBT cards for a set fee per
month. In Michigan, this fee is $75
per unit per month. Businesses may
also elect to handle EBT through their
credit card terminals.
Analyze costs beforehand

Before you meet with EBT merchants,
find the cost for EBT transactions on
your Schedule A. I have seen fees
range from 2 to 10 cents. Determine

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