The Department of Public Social Services (DPSS) is asking for your help to inform local
businesses of important changes coming to the Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards used by
over 1.2 million customers in Los Angeles County to access essential food and cash benefits via
the CalFresh, CalWORKs, and General Relief programs. Soon, the California Department of
Social Services (CDSS) will begin replacing current EBT cards with more secure chip/tap cards.
Businesses that currently accept EBT cards will need to update their payment processing systems in order to accept the new EBT chip/tap cards.
Chip/tap cards will help California reduce EBT theft by making card transactions more secure,
protecting retailers and customers from the devastating impact of stolen benefits. Merchants and
financial institutions must contact their Point of Sale (POS) Service Provider as soon as possible
to request updates to their payment processing systems to accept EBT chip/tap cards and to
ensure their current systems will fall back to the magnetic stripe during this transition period. We
are asking for your help in sharing the attached informational flyers and notices from CDSS with
the local business community to ensure there are no service disruptions for EBT merchants and
cardholders.
Additional information can be found by searching “SNAP EBT Modernization” in your browser or
by visiting the USDA website at https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/ebt/modernization. In addition to
the resources provided by CDSS, we have enclosed a flyer that provides valuable tips to help
businesses protect themselves and their customers from EBT skimming.
We truly appreciate your help in safeguarding the public’s benefits.