Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of payments and financial services technology solutions, today announced it is facilitating the acceptance of online Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) payments in support of the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Online Purchasing Pilot.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for online ordering to facilitate curbside pickup or delivery service has grown rapidly as Americans abide by social distancing guidelines and businesses work to serve customers with limited face-to-face interaction. For the 37 million Americans who rely on SNAP, shopping in-store and paying for goods in-person is often their only way to purchase groceries.
All EBT transactions, in-person or online, require the use of the cardholder’s PIN to authenticate the transaction. Leveraging a proprietary PIN-on-glass solution provided by Fiserv, grocers are able to create a digital PINpad within their digital commerce environment that allows EBT cardholders to verify their transaction. Fiserv currently offers the only USDA-approved solution enabling grocers to accept a consumer’s EBT payment online.
“We’re pleased to see the expansion of the online SNAP pilot as grocers continue to innovate to increase food access and address food insecurity,” said Greg Ferrara, President and CEO of the National Grocers Association. “As strong public-private partners, and true entrepreneurs of the industry, grocers are responding to marketplace changes by developing their own successful ecommerce strategies for the communities they serve, including those who depend on the SNAP program.”
ShopRite, a Wakefern Food Corporation brand, is currently accepting online EBT payment at select locations.
“Thirty-three New York ShopRite stores now offer online EBT payment for eligible customers placing orders through our ShopRite from Home service for delivery or store pick-up,” said Cheryl Williams, Chief Information Officer at Wakefern Food Corporation. “Our ShopRite from Home online service was part of the USDA pilot last year and we were pleased with the rollout in New York. We look forward to working again with Fiserv, the USDA and other states in our trading area to expand online EBT payment options for all our retail banners.”
The SNAP Online Purchasing Pilot is operated and managed by Food and Nutrition Services (FNS), an agency of the USDA. Originally launched in April of 2019 in New York state, FNS is rapidly expanding the pilot program, adding multiple new states and grocers to address growing consumer demand for digital commerce. Today, the program is live in Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Nebraska, New York, Oregon and Washington. Eight additional states (Idaho, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Texas, West Virginia, Vermont) and the District of Columbia are approved to implement online purchasing by the end of June 2020.
Grocers must meet specific FNS requirements to participate in the pilot. Once approved by FNS, the grocer can work with Fiserv to implement the online PIN solution.
“Accelerating the acceptance of online EBT payments is one of several initiatives Fiserv is prioritizing to help our clients better serve their customers through digital channels,” said Nandan Sheth, head of Global Digital Commerce at Fiserv. “The ability for grocers to enable safe and secure ecommerce, for all of their customer segments, remains critically important to their success.”
Recently, Fiserv launched Online Frontline, a repository of resources designed to educate enterprise businesses on the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 and provide strategies for using digital solutions to create safe, secure commerce.
In a world moving faster than ever before, Fiserv helps clients deliver solutions in step with the way people live and work today – financial services at the speed of life.
