SNAP Benefits: Do Home Delivery Services Accept EBT Cards?
Written by
Yaël Bizouati-Kennedy
Edited by
Nicholas Morine
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The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest federal nutrition assistance program and provides benefits to eligible low-income individuals and families via an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card. Said EBT card enables beneficiaries to purchase eligible food in authorized retail food stores. But do meal delivery kits accept EBT?
Frugalreality.com pointed out that there are several reasons why some beneficiaries might need to find delivery kits, including the fact that the nearby grocery store isn’t well-stocked, or you are short on time to visit a crowded store. The delivery factor also can save on time and gas.
However, Top Box Foods seems to be the only meal delivery service that accepts EBT at the moment, according to Frugalreality.com, while its top competitors — Hello Fresh and Blue Apron — don’t accept EBT as a payment method. That means SNAP recipients have limited options because most meal delivery services don’t accept EBT cards.
But this might soon change as the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has launched a federal pilot program geared toward allowing states to add EBT cards as an online payment option so that grocery stores and meal delivery services can start accepting EBT and SNAP food stamps, Frugalreality.com reported.
Instacart, for example, expanded EBT SNAP integration in partnership with ALDI, in December 2020, according to a press release. Since, EBT SNAP online payment has been available at nearly 1,000 more ALDI stores across 23 states and Washington, D.C. This expansion followed the USDA Food and Nutrition Service’s most recent approval allowing Instacart and ALDI to expand this online EBT SNAP pilot, according to the release.
“ALDI is proud to be the first grocery retailer to accept EBT SNAP benefits as a form of payment online via Instacart for grocery delivery and Curbside pickup,” ALDI exec Scott Patton said at the time. “This service is now available at nearly 90% of ALDI stores, across 29 states and Washington, D.C., following successful pilots in California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Texas.”
Instacart’s website indicated that EBT SNAP can be used through its service to have groceries delivered from over 50 supermarkets, including (but not limited to) Meijer, Food Lion, Price Chopper, Wegmans, Albertsons, and Market Bistro.
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This story has been updated with additional information.
