About two million New York food stamp cards will be replaced with chip cards beginning in the first quarter of 2027, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office says. The goal is to stop skimming, the theft method in which devices capture a card’s information and PIN so thieves can drain benefits before the recipient spends them.
The governor’s announcement, dated July 13, 2026, says the state’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance has finalized a contract with Fidelity Information Services, LLC to produce the cards. The money was included in the state’s fiscal year 2027 budget. The cards will also serve people who receive Public Assistance.
For a household on SNAP in New York, the question is what to set up before the new card shows up in the mail. The announcement says cardholders will be notified before their new card is issued, and it gives no date by which the old card stops working. Until then, the current card stays in use, and the steps that protect it from skimmers matter most.
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What the governor’s office says the chip will do
The release says the chips match the ones in commercial debit and credit cards, and that the federal EBT system only recently gained the ability to accept chip cards. Hochul said "modernizing our EBT system is the most effective tool we have to prevent heartless criminals" from stealing benefits. The release says the new cards will be "virtually impervious to skimming."
OTDA Commissioner Barbara C. Guinn thanked the governor for protecting vulnerable New Yorkers from benefit theft, and state Sen. Roxanne J. Perasud said chip-enabled cards are "a necessary step toward preventing future skimming."
When will the cards arrive, and who gets one?
Issuance begins in the first quarter of 2027, which runs January through March. The release does not give a month, or a schedule by county, and it does not say whether old cards will stop working on a set date. About two million cards are expected, and that count is cards, not households.
The release says the new cards are meant to replace the magnetic-stripe cards that skimmers copy, and that the state will tell cardholders before each new card is issued. It names the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance as the agency running the rollout, so questions about a specific case go to a local social services department.
OTDA has started contacting retailers and financial institutions so their systems can accept chip cards before the end of 2026, according to the release.
Is New York early or late among the states?
The release cites USDA in saying five states have issued chip cards and five more, including New York, are in progress. A Payments Dive report lists California, Oklahoma, Alabama, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Michigan as states that have issued chip EBT cards, and says New York plans early 2027.
New Jersey households, for instance, face a November 20, 2026 activation deadline for their new cards in most counties. New York has not announced a comparable deadline.
How can cardholders protect benefits until then?
The release points to protections that already exist. Cardholders can use the freeze and unfreeze feature in the ebtEDGE app or the online portal, and can block online and out-of-state purchases. OTDA, local social services departments and the card provider will never ask for EBT information by email, text or phone.
The release also notes that the federal government stopped funding replacement benefits for stolen SNAP at the end of 2024, and says the Trump administration has refused to reauthorize them. More guidance is at otda.ny.gov/ebtscam, and USDA’s SNAP page covers the federal program.
The open question for New York households is when in the first quarter their notice will arrive and what it will say about the old card.
Setting up before New York’s chip cards arrive?
A new card that arrives during the first three months of 2027 will come with its own steps, and a household that is also facing a recertification or a reporting deadline can lose track of which notice needs what. Skimming losses are not replaced by the federal government.
The SNAP & Medicaid Renewal Organizer puts the dates in one place. It includes 51 state packs, with one for New York, and a renewal and reporting calendar, plus a renewal document checklist, so the new card notice can be filed beside the next renewal date.
Get the New York state pack and reporting calendar in the Renewal Organizer →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
