Sponsors (7)
The bill strengthens EBT security and beneficiary access (faster, free replacements; chip/contactless cards; better reporting) but does so at the cost of implementation expenses, tight timelines, potential service disruptions for recipients and merchants, and increased data‑handling/privacy risks.
Low-income SNAP households will face less benefit theft and skimming because EBT cards and terminals move to chip-enabled/contactless standards and online security requirements are strengthened.
Low‑income households (SNAP recipients and families) will get faster, easier, and lower‑cost access to benefits because States must provide rapid replacement cards, beneficiaries can check enrollment/recertification status via user interfaces, and replacement cards are free in many cases.
State SNAP programs, retailers, and sites that serve SNAP recipients will receive federal reimbursements and subgrants to offset costs of issuing chip cards and upgrading terminals, reducing the fiscal burden of the transition.
State agencies and small retailers will face significant upfront and ongoing costs to issue chip-enabled cards and upgrade terminals, and tight compliance schedules risk delayed implementation or service interruptions for beneficiaries.
SNAP recipients may lose convenient access to food benefits if some merchants decline to upgrade, stop participating in SNAP, or if transition complexities (including disaster or summer EBT exceptions) create temporary gaps.
Expanded collection and reporting of merchant and transaction security data (including confidential annexes) increases privacy, reputational, and legal risks for beneficiaries and businesses if sensitive information is mishandled.
Based on analysis of 16 sections of legislative text.
Introduced February 26, 2026 by Ronald Lee Wyden · Last progress February 26, 2026
Sets new cybersecurity and usability rules for SNAP Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards and online EBT transactions: USDA must write and regularly update regulations requiring chip-enabled cards, supporting mobile-friendly options, prohibiting older magnetic-stripe cards on a timetable, reimbursing states for reasonable upgrade costs, and funding terminal upgrades through grants. It also requires faster replacement of lost/stolen/damaged cards, bans certain replacement fees, mandates retailer chip-enabled terminals as a condition of SNAP authorization after regulations are final, and requires multiple public and confidential reports (including a Puerto Rico-specific study) on EBT security and benefit theft.