Tuesday, May 8, 2018

The electronic message that drives EBT transactions is about to change

EBT electronic transaction messaging to get a rework

The Retail Payments Subcommittee of electronic financial message standards group X9 is soon to begin revising the financial transaction message for EBT.

Standardization of the electronic processing of SNAP (nee Food Stamps) purchase transactions “provides cost efficiency, ease on conversion, data and reporting consistency for the SNAP program.

Parties affected by the change include The Department of Agriculture, which is responsible for managing the SNAP program, state and territorial agencies that manage SNAP on a local level, the handful of companies that process SNAP electronic transactions, third-party processors of SNAP transactions, software developers, point-of-sale terminal manufactures, authorized food retailers that vend the food which SNAP EBT cardholders purchase, as well as software developers who build the retail POS systems.

The subcommittee is seeking subject-matter experts among these stakeholder groups who would be interested in participating in the rewrite of the SNAP EBT message.