“We’re focused on preventing fraud and theft so that these funds are going to the people who need and deserve them,” Healey said in the statement. “Massachusetts is proud to be leading the nation when it comes to the security and integrity of our EBT programs.”
The change was announced earlier this year, when state officials began notifying retailers to update their point-of-sale systems to accept chip or tap transactions. Officials said that, as of Thursday, the “vast majority of retailers” in the state are prepared to accept the new chip or tap cards — though some SNAP retailers with older systems may still require customers to swipe their cards.
The Department of Transitional Assistance conducted a successful pilot in July, mailing 35,000 chip cards to clients in the Worcester area, officials said.
Updated EBT cards will be mailed to clients in the rest of the state throughout August, officials said. To activate their cards, clients should use them within 60 days.
“Having a chip and tap-to-pay option on our EBT cards means a safer way to access benefits people use to keep their families fed and is one more tool in our arsenal that supports our ongoing commitment to safeguarding public funds,” said Michael Cole, commissioner of transitional assistance.
State officials also rolled out new safeguards for the cards, including new ways to lock cards through the DTA Connect mobile app, and engagement with clients and retailers on best practices, the statement said.
Investigators have uncovered widespread skimming theft schemes from businesses across Massachusetts, including one ring in the Boston area last year that officials said prevented an estimated fraud loss of $16.7 million to the government, and an overall loss to businesses and operations of more than $334 million.
Officials have said that the new EBT cards, which rely on chip and tap payments, are much less susceptible to card skimming, which steals the information from the card’s magnetic stripe.
Earlier this year, Massachusetts US Attorney Leah B. Foley said the ongoing federal crackdown on fraud had led to the arrests of nine people accused of collecting a total of $943,000 from public assistance programs, including nearly $150,000 in SNAP benefits. In response, Foley announced a new initiative to “actively and aggressively root out” alleged benefit fraud in Massachusetts, as well as voter fraud.
Officials in Massachusetts and elsewhere, though, have argued that instances of fraud in the SNAP program are exceedingly rare, and that federal inspectors often flag cases that are not actually fraud.
Camilo Fonseca can be reached at camilo.fonseca@globe.com. Follow him on X @fonseca_esq and on Instagram @camilo_fonseca.reports.
