Archives

The evidence for investing in EBT security is clear

Two essential stakeholders depend on EBT cards to deliver public benefits: the cardholder and the taxpayer. EBT theft harms both.

For households relying on SNAP to afford groceries, stolen benefits can mean an empty account when they reach the checkout line, with devastating consequences for their food security. For taxpayers, it means public dollars intended to help families afford food are instead going to criminals.

The scale of the problem is substantial. According to data from Propel reported by ProPublica, an estimated $470 million in SNAP benefits was stolen electronically in 2025, affecting more than 990,000 households.

Fortunately, states that have invested in modern security measures are already seeing promising results. California reported an 83 percent reduction in EBT theft between January 2024 and November 2025, following the introduction of chip-and-tap cards and other fraud-prevention measures. More recently, Maryland reported a 71 percent decrease in stolen benefit reimbursements during the first three months of its chip card rollout, compared with the same period in 2025. These results demonstrate what is possible when states have the resources and capacity to modernize their systems.

Two essential stakeholders depend on EBT cards to deliver public benefits: the cardholder and the taxpayer. EBT theft harms both.

The scale of the investment is also worth putting in perspective. USDA estimates approximately $283 million in one-time implementation costs across state agencies, the federal government, households, and businesses for the proposed rule (though this estimate does not account for additional ongoing costs). Compare that with the estimated $470 million stolen from SNAP households last year alone. Investments in more sophisticated EBT security have the potential to save significant taxpayer funds year-over-year. 

States cannot fund EBT security alone 

For states, the challenge is not recognizing the need for stronger EBT security, but finding the resources to implement it. Modernizing EBT payment systems is a complex and costly undertaking, requiring states to upgrade technology, negotiate changes with EBT processors, coordinate with retailers, and help cardholders navigate new security features without disrupting access to benefits. 

And while the proposed rule would establish new requirements, it does not come with dedicated federal funding to help states meet them. States would be expected to undertake significant modernization efforts at a time when their budgets are already stretched thin. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) increased states’ share of SNAP administrative costs from 50 to 75 percent, introduced new and expanded work requirements for SNAP and Medicaid that demand costly systems changes, and created a new requirement for states with high SNAP payment error rates to cover a portion of benefit costs. States are already making difficult tradeoffs.  According to a survey of 39 states by the American Public Human Services Association, 58 percent of responding states reported shifting resources away from other priorities to improve payment accuracy, including 13 percent that had delayed EBT chip card implementation or related investments.

State fraud investigators have raised similar concerns about the lack of funding. In an October 22 statement, the United Council on Welfare Fraud applauded USDA’s efforts to modernize EBT security but warned that imposing these requirements without additional funding would place a significant burden on states already struggling to fund fraud prevention. 

That is why congressional action matters. USDA can set new security requirements, but only Congress can provide the funding to turn those requirements into reality. Congress should closely examine the full costs of modernization, the capacity of states and their technology partners to meet new requirements, and what federal resources would be needed to make implementation and ongoing sustainment successful.

This is particularly important because chip-and-tap cards, while essential, are not the only security measures missing from EBT cards. Financial institutions routinely use additional tools to protect transactions for credit and debit cards, including real-time fraud detection and transaction blocking, which can stop suspicious purchases before money leaves an account.

At the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program, we are working with states to pilot real-time transaction blocking (RTTB) for EBT, using philanthropic funding to help cover implementation costs and provide technical assistance. Expanded EBT security features will never reach nationwide coverage, however, unless federal policymakers find a way to finance EBT security not just for existing measures such as chip-and-tap cards and RTTB, but also for additional security features that will inevitably be needed when criminals find new ways to steal beneficiary and taxpayer dollars. 

Real priorities require real resources

USDA’s proposal represents meaningful progress. Establishing modern security standards across SNAP can help close a gap that has left millions of households vulnerable to theft. But a regulation alone cannot pay for new cards, upgrade payment infrastructure, or give states the capacity to implement and maintain stronger security systems.

Congress now has an opportunity to examine the investment required to make these improvements a reality, including how to support states in adopting additional proven fraud-prevention tools and finance them in the long term. In doing so, lawmakers can eliminate taxpayer waste and fraud, states will get the resources they need, and families across the country will be able to put food on the table.

When something is broken, we fix it. It’s common sense. With hundreds of millions of dollars in public benefits being stolen each year, the cost of inaction deserves as much attention as the cost of modernization.