By Aliss Higham
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Millions of Americans who rely on Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits have increasingly become targets of electronic benefit theft, prompting lawmakers across several states to introduce legislation aimed at strengthening security for payment cards.
SNAP benefits are loaded onto electronic benefit transfer cards used at authorized retailers, and theft through skimming of magnetic-stripe cards has cost recipients at least $320 million from October 2022 to December 2024. This has prompted states and federal lawmakers to pursue avenues for increasing the security of SNAP cards for the country's 40 million SNAP users.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) inspector general has projected that $233 million more could be stolen in fiscal years 2025 and 2026 without security upgrades, while a separate estimate cited by lawmakers warned that $555 million in SNAP funds could be at risk in coming years unless cards are modernized.
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Most proposals focus on adding modern payment protections, such as integrated circuit cards (ICC) commonly used on regular debit and credit cards.
SNAP Card Changes Across The U.S.
California switched in 2025 from magnetic-stripe EBT cards to chip-enabled, tap-capable cards, alongside other security steps, and reported an 83 percent decline in reimbursements for stolen benefits between January 2024 and November 2025, state officials said.
As of January 2026, Oklahoma is issuing chip-enabled EBT cards, and Alabama began rolling out chip cards in February 2026.
According to the USDA, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey and Virginia are also in the process of rolling out chip-enabled cards.
Other states are moving legislation forward that could see safer cards for SNAP users. In Ohio, bipartisan legislation has been introduced that would require the use of chip-enabled EBT cards statewide.
In Pennsylvania, House Bill 1429 has passed the state House and directs officials to examine the feasibility of transitioning to chip-enabled benefit cards.
Federal Action
While states figure out ways to make SNAP benefits less vulnerable to theft, lawmakers on Capitol Hill are also keen to see lower rates of SNAP card fraud.
The Enhanced Cybersecurity for SNAP Act would update security regulations to require SNAP cards to use anti-fraud technology designed to prevent cloning and protect online transactions, bringing them in line with the standards used for credit and debit cards.
Under the proposal, and with funding from the USDA, states would begin issuing chip-enabled SNAP cards within two years of the updated regulations. They would stop issuing new magnetic-stripe cards within four years and reissue all remaining magnetic-stripe cards as chip-only within five years.
The measure would also require states to provide replacement cards at no cost within three days for families whose cards were stolen, cloned or malfunctioning, and to offer accessible account-management options such as a smartphone app or a voice-based phone service.
The bill would establish a USDA grant program to help small grocery stores in food deserts, farmers markets and farm-to-consumer programs upgrade to payment machines capable of accepting chip-enabled cards.
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