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Will Square ever be able to accept Electronic Benefit Card (EBT) payments?

Will Square ever be able to accept Electronic Benefit Card (EBT) payments?

Will Square ever be able to accept Electronic Benefit Card (EBT) (food stamps) payments?

1 Verified Answer
Verified Answer

Re: Will Square ever be able to accept Electronic Benefit Card (EBT) payments?

For those who might be interested, here is our set-up for EBT.

 

We use a third party company for running EBT, which has a card reader and a pinpad. The companies vary by state, we use FIS. 

We hold an Arizona restaurant/hot meals EBT license and can accept just about everything on EBT except energy drinks and retail items like coffee mugs or keychains.

 

We use the code "E" in the notes section to be able to track which sales are EBT. We still record everything in Square so that we have data for all sales in one place.

 

Here are the steps we provide for our cashiers.

  1. Remove non-eligible retail items from ticket for a separate transaction. Tell the customer “I will ring these up separately for you.”
  2. Remove tax from ticket.
  3. Take payment on EBT machine for total of eligible items and offer customer receipt.
  4. Choose “CHARGE” on Square.
  5. Choose “OTHER PAYMENT TYPE.”
  6. Type “E” in “Notes.”
  7. Choose “TENDER.”
105 Comments

This is not a very realistic solution.   We want to use one terminal, one processor for both Credit cards and ebt.  Having serveral terminals and devices on the counter is messy and we just don't have the counter space.

I used to use Square and I loved it but I had to basically stop because Square doesn't process EBT.

 

You can use a EBT processor from the list that the Food Stamps department provide.  I went with goEBT.  They only do EBT and not credit cards.  goEBT charges $60/month for unlimited ebt processing.  I don't do enough ebt sales to recover the $60 fee so I had to sign up with another company that does both credit cards and ebt.  The main reason why I had to find another credit card processor instead of Square was because as soon as I pull out my cell phone to swipe their cards, they pull it back and run.  Yes people don't trust you swiping their credit cards on your phone.  They think you are stealing their information.  Also Square didn't offer a way to print out the receipt, only email.   I run a convenience store and most of my customers are not that up-to-date on the latest technologies.  Most don't have email and text.  They just want a receipt printed out like every other credit card terminal.  (Only today did I find out that Square just came out with a terminal that prints a receipt, and why I logged back onto Square to see if they also started accepting EBT.)

The credit card process charges me 5 cents per ebt transaction but that works out cheaper than using goEBT.  Plus goEBT made me sign a year's contract so I had to stick with them for a year.  They also go down a lot so it was nice to have a backup ebt processor on my credit card terminal too.   Since I already have a credit card processor that offered a "real" terminal that prints a receipt, I didn't really need Square.  I only kept Square around in case the credit processor went down.

 

So to sum it up, the fact that Square didn't have a way to print out a paper receipt and no EBT processing prevented me from using Square exclusively.  Now that Square prints paper receipts, they need to add EBT.  Only then can I get rid of the other companies.

 

Not having EBT is hurting Square more than it realizes based on the non-chalant responses I see from the Square representatives on these boards.

Admin

Hey @dzm, thanks for checking in here and I'm sorry for the frustration. I will make sure your experience is documented with our Point of Sale team. There aren't any updates on EBT acceptance that I can access and share out right now—but we'll definitely announce any developments.

 

In the meantime, I hope that you're able process EBT payments as needed. We'd love to be more than a back-up service and for our sellers to not have to sign up for multiple payment processors.

Super Seller

@dzm, You have been able to print receipts for 6+ years.  see this article on what printers are compatible with Square.  https://squareup.com/help/us/en/article/6050-create-a-printer-station-and-connect-a-printer

 

And yes the new Square terminal has a receipt printer built in for convenience.   https://squareup.com/us/en/hardware/terminal

You're missing the point.  I don't want a separate printer to print out their receipt.  Not only does it add more clutter, they don't trust it.  It has to come from the same device that they swiped their cards.  I know people are weird.  They don't like something different like a cellphone charging their credit cards.  They will leave and go to another store that has a "real" credit card terminal with a built in printer.  I have lost business by pulling out my phone to swipe their cards.

We also get this request daily... We're a health store that sells organic and nutritional items and would love to be able to do EBT.  There is no grocery store in town so it would be a boon to business.

 

Too expensive for us to do GoEBT or the other ones...In addition to Square.

 

I doubt they will ever do it since they have had 3 years to "discuss it".  Clover isn't an option for us either, since we are a small enterprise.  Sad

Super Seller

Looks like some possible progress in EBT/LINK/SNAP processing coming to Square with a recent Square investment in a company that does mobile EBT currently.  I will be glad if it does come to Square so I can directly take LINK payments at my farmers market.

 

link to the story.

Super Seller

That's the only reason we don't use Square for processing cards. And it's the only reason we haven't upgraded to Square's new hardware. We get a slightly better rate with a separate merchant account, but we do >250k in CC, so maybe we could get them to match our current rates. Being able to accept EBT would be a game changer for sure.

I sure hope it goes somewhere.  Not being ableto take food stamps has directly impacted our small business.  We are in a remote area and sales would really improve if we offered this.  We are also too small for clover or we would have migrated over last year.

Can I accept EBT food cards in my Mini Mart Grocery store with the square card reader. If yes how do I set it up.