Maryland’s Department of Human Resources announced last week that they would be rolling out new Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards as part of a modernization plan designed to ward off food stamp thievery.
The new cards will have the same capabilities as regular credit and debit cards and will allow users to swipe or tap the card to make payments. The new technology ensures that nobody can ‘skim’ a card and get the beneficiary’s data.
The agency plans to send out new cards from July and users will also receive instructions on how to set up the card and get it activated.
As of May 18, beneficiaries are encouraged to register an account on a new platform that’s now in use. If you’re one of the roughly 680,000 food stamp recipients in Maryland you can set up that account here: https://cardholder.ebtedge.com/chp/index.html