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Pennsylvania will soon roll out chip-enabled Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards as part of an effort to protect Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits from fraud, state leaders said Thursday at an event in Philadelphia.
The rollout is part of a $7 million investment allocated in the 2026-27 state budget to strengthen EBT fraud prevention, which will be matched with federal funds for a $14 million total investment, according to House Appropriations Committee Majority Chairman Jordan Harris, D-Philadelphia.
"When SNAP benefits are stolen, families are not simply losing money - they are losing the ability to purchase groceries and put meals on the table," Harris said. "By investing $7 million in chip-enabled EBT cards, Pennsylvania is taking a practical step to protect families, strengthen the security of our public benefits system and ensure these critical resources reach the people they are intended to serve."
The security measure is intended to combat SNAP benefit theft from skimming devices that capture card data from magnetic stripes when recipients use their EBT cards at point-of-sale terminals.
From January through May 2026, more than 5,100 cases of SNAP fraud were reported in Pennsylvania, with $2.5 million in benefits stolen, according to state data.
Lost benefits are not replaced until the following month's disbursement, leaving recipients without access to those funds in the interim and potentially forcing them to turn to food banks and other emergency food assistance, Harris said.
The chip-enabled EBT cards are set to roll out in late spring 2027, according to Pennsylvania Department of Human Services Secretary Val Arkoosh.
DHS anticipates it will take "a few months" for SNAP recipients to receive their new cards. There are more than 1.7 million Pennsylvanians who receive SNAP benefits every month, about a quarter of whom live in Philadelphia.
In the meantime, Arkoosh said SNAP recipients can use the ConnectEBT mobile app to virtually lock their EBT card while it is not in use to prevent SNAP fraud.
The move to implement the chip technology was initially introduced in bipartisan House Bill 2540, sponsored by Rep. Dan Williams, D-Chester, and Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon. The chip technology provision was ultimately included in an omnibus bill passed as part of the state budget agreement.
"Almost everyone carries a debit card or a credit card equipped with chip-enabled technology, so these protections need to extend to public resources as well," Williams said in June. "HB 2540 is a step in the right direction to help provide that kind of security for our most vulnerable populations."
"There's nothing worse than when someone is in the checkout lane, planning to pay for their groceries with their access card, only to find out that their funds were stolen," Heffley said. "Seeing all of the money that has been stolen already, it's great that we're working in a bipartisan manner to get this done now."
Currently, seven states have implemented the chip-enabled technology, reporting a 80% reduction in theft after upgrading the EBT card, according to state data. Pennsylvania is one of seven states -- along with Arkansas, Maine, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Virginia -- currently working to roll out new chip-enabled EBT cards.
DHS recently moved to use an emergency contract adjustment to pay Conduent, Inc., a card vendor, more than $11 million to implement the chip technology in order to meet the Oct. 1 deadline, which would mean the federal government would pick up 50% of the cost to implement the cards.
"If the funding for these services is not disbursed by 9/30/2026 the Commonwealth will lose millions of dollars in federal funding," DHS officials said in procurement documents dated Sept. 10.
Arkoosh said during the event Thursday the state is on track to meet the deadline, which would give the state $14 million for implementation.