The magnetic stripe on the back of a food stamp card is the weak spot USDA wants to replace. On October 21, 2026, the department posted a proposed rule that would require every state to move Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits onto chip-and-tap cards, with a two-year clock that starts when a final rule is published. The proposal follows more than $360 million in stolen benefits that the federal government replaced.
What would the chip-and-tap rule require?
USDA’s Food and Nutrition Administration says state SNAP agencies “would upgrade to EBT cards that use chip and NFC (near-field communication) technology.” NFC is the tap-to-pay technology on many bank cards. Stores that take SNAP would have to accept EBT purchases by chip and tap within a set period. The agency expects the change to significantly reduce benefit theft by limiting skimming and cloning.
The proposed rule text sets “a two-year timeframe after the date of publication of a final rule.” It is still a proposal, filed under RIN 0584-AE99 and docket FNS-2025-0137, so nothing changes at the checkout lane yet. The text says seven states had issued EBT chip cards to participants as of August 2026, with more in progress.
How much was stolen and replaced?
The rule says 753,929 claims for replacement of stolen SNAP benefits were approved nationwide, with a total replacement value of $360,441,561. USDA’s federal authority to replace stolen benefits “expired on December 20, 2024.” Households whose benefits are skimmed today are not covered by that federal replacement.
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The proposal describes the method of the thefts: bad actors attach devices to point-of-sale terminals that intercept card data, and the rule cites “skimming of EBT card data facilitated by magnetic stripes” as a major source of theft.
How can an EBT card holder protect the card until chip cards arrive?
A final rule and a two-year rollout mean magnetic-stripe cards will stay in wallets for some time. SNAP households in states that have not yet issued chip cards are the ones exposed now. USDA’s card-skimming page is the agency’s free guidance on protecting a card and what to do after a theft. Because the federal replacement authority ended in 2024, the guidance on acting quickly matters more.
The proposal itself shows what USDA considers good protection. It would ban common PINs, and it would require cards to be issued inactive, so a household has to activate a new chip card on receipt. Cards would also carry a security code, with the account number printed on the back.
What else is in the proposal?
The page says the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 requires these security measures. Households would have to activate new chip cards on receipt, and the page notes that households experiencing homelessness may need to travel to a local office to obtain a card. Balance inquiries would require verification, and transaction receipts could be delivered electronically.
The rule would eliminate offline EBT systems, require every EBT system participant to update to the X9.58 technical specification, and make account history, including PIN change history and changes to address, email and phone number, available to all participants. It also says interchange fees “shall not apply to any EBT transaction.”
USDA’s cost figures are roughly $283 million combined in fiscal years 2028 and 2029, plus roughly $152 million in total across fiscal years 2028 through 2037. Written comments are due 60 days after the rule appears in the Federal Register, and the USDA page says it will be updated once that happens. Comments can be sent through Regulations.gov or to [email protected].
Worried about skimming before the chip cards arrive?
Until a final rule is published and states reissue cards, a skimmed EBT balance is a loss with no federal replacement behind it, since the authority that covered 753,929 claims expired on December 20, 2024. The hours right after a theft decide how much can be traced and reported.
The Senior Fraud Defense & First-Hour Recovery Kit includes the first-hour recovery plan, a fraud evidence and report log and the free credit-freeze steps for the wider identity side of a scam. The kit is a plan for acting fast after fraud, and it does not replace benefits.
Get the first-hour plan and evidence log for a skimmed EBT card in the Senior Fraud Defense Kit →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
