News -- August 3, 2026: A growing number of states are replacing traditional magnetic-stripe Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards with new chip-enabled cards designed to improve security for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients.
The new cards use the same EMV chip technology found in today's debit and credit cards. Like those financial cards, the embedded chip creates a unique encrypted code for each transaction, making it significantly more difficult for criminals to clone cards through skimming devices.
The security upgrade is intended to protect SNAP recipients from criminals who steal benefits by cloning magnetic-stripe cards through skimming devices. Like the transition to chip-enabled debit and credit cards, the new EBT cards are designed to improve transaction security and reduce electronic fraud.
Congress Responded to Rising Electronic Fraud
In December 2022, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, directing the development of stronger security measures to combat EBT card skimming and cloning.
On August 28, 2024, the national EMV chip standard (ANSI X9.58-2024) was finalized, providing a common security standard that states could adopt as they upgraded their EBT card systems.
California Led the Nation
California became the first state in the nation to begin issuing chip-enabled EBT cards in February 2025.
By the end of April 2025, approximately 4.4 million California EBT recipients had received replacement cards. State officials later reported the new technology contributed to an 83% reduction in reported EBT benefit theft, making California the first large-scale implementation of the upgraded security system.
States Currently Issuing Chip-Enabled EBT Cards
As of August 2026, the following states have begun issuing chip-enabled EBT cards:
California
Alabama
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Oklahoma
Several additional states have announced plans or begun transitioning to the new technology, including:
Arkansas
New Jersey
New York (planned rollout beginning in early 2027)
Oregon
Virginia
North Carolina
North Carolina has not announced a statewide rollout of chip-enabled EBT cards.
SNAP recipients in North Carolina continue using traditional magnetic-stripe EBT cards, and state officials have not released a timeline for transitioning to the newer chip-enabled technology.
What the New Cards Do
The new chip-enabled EBT cards are a security enhancement similar to the transition banks made years ago from magnetic-stripe debit and credit cards to EMV chip cards.
The upgrade helps reduce card cloning and skimming fraud by making it much more difficult for criminals to copy card information and create counterfeit cards.
The new cards do not change SNAP eligibility, benefit amounts, or program rules. They are also not intended to expand government tracking of purchases. Their primary purpose is to provide the same type of security improvements that consumers have come to expect with modern debit and credit cards.
As additional states transition to chip-enabled EBT cards, the security upgrade is expected to provide stronger protection against electronic fraud while giving SNAP recipients the same type of card security already used throughout the banking industry.