What Counts As EBT? A Clear Guide To Your SNAP Benefits And Eligible Purchases

Navigating government assistance programs can often feel complicated and overwhelming. When you’re trying to secure support for your family, understanding the tools at your disposal is the first step toward empowerment. One of the most important of these tools is the Electronic Benefits Transfer, or EBT, card. This card is the key to accessing vital food and cash assistance. The purpose of this report is to provide a simple, complete, and easy-to-understand guide to what EBT is, how it works, and what it means for you and your family. Understanding your benefits is achievable, and this guide is here to help you every step of the way.

What Counts as EBT? A Direct Answer

At its core, EBT stands for Electronic Benefits Transfer. It is important to understand that EBT itself is not a benefit program. Instead, it is the modern system or technology used to deliver government benefits to people who qualify. This system uses a plastic card that looks and functions very much like a standard debit card. Each month, any benefits a person is eligible for are loaded electronically into an account linked to their EBT card.

This electronic method is a relatively recent development. For most of its history, food assistance was given out in the form of paper coupons or “stamps” of different colors and values. Starting in the late 1990s and becoming the only method in all states by June 2004, the government replaced these paper stamps with the EBT card system. This change was made for several reasons. It is a more efficient and secure way to distribute benefits, and it helps reduce fraud associated with printing, distributing, and destroying physical coupons. Perhaps most importantly, it was intended to reduce the stigma of using public assistance. Because the EBT card looks like any other payment card, it allows for more private and dignified transactions at the checkout counter, unlike the very conspicuous paper stamps of the past.

The most critical concept to grasp is the difference between the delivery system and the programs it supports. Think of the EBT card as the wallet, and the benefit programs as the money that gets put inside it. A person can receive assistance from multiple programs at the same time, and all the benefits can be loaded onto a single EBT card. The EBT system is smart enough to keep the funds from different programs separate within that one account. The two main programs that use the EBT system are:

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which provides money specifically for food.
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), which provides cash assistance for other basic needs.

The move from paper stamps to a digital card represents more than just a technological upgrade; it marks a fundamental change in how public assistance is administered. By making the transaction look like any other card payment, the system integrates recipients into the modern digital economy. However, this digital shift also creates new challenges. While paper stamps could be physically lost or stolen, EBT benefits are vulnerable to modern electronic theft. Scammers may use tactics like “phishing” (fake emails), “smishing” (fake text messages), or physical card skimmers at stores to steal a person’s card number and PIN. This means that while the system offers more dignity, it also requires recipients to be vigilant against new kinds of fraud that did not exist in the age of paper coupons.

The EBT Card: Your Electronic Wallet for Benefits

Using your EBT card is designed to be a straightforward process, much like using a debit card at any store.

How It Works: Just Like a Debit Card

When you are ready to pay for your items at an authorized store, you will swipe your EBT card’s magnetic stripe or insert the chip into the card reader, also known as a Point-of-Sale (POS) terminal. The machine will then prompt you to enter your secret four-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN) on the keypad to authorize the purchase. It is a critical security rule that you should never say your PIN out loud or share it with the cashier.

Once you enter your PIN, the EBT system instantly checks your account to see if you have enough benefits to cover the purchase. In just a few seconds, it sends back an approval or denial to the store’s machine. If approved, the purchase amount is immediately subtracted from your benefit balance. The cashier will give you a receipt, which you should always check to make sure the amount is correct. This receipt will also typically show your remaining account balance, which is a helpful way to keep track of your funds.

Your PIN: The Key to Your Benefits

Your PIN is the single most important security feature that protects your benefits from being used by someone else. It must be kept secret and should never be shared with anyone, not even family members or store clerks. When you first get your card, you will select your own unique PIN. It is strongly recommended that you avoid easy-to-guess numbers like “1234,” “1111,” or your year of birth. If you forget your PIN or suspect that someone else knows it, you should call the EBT customer service number on the back of your card immediately to change it. As a security precaution, if the wrong PIN is entered three times in a row, your card will likely be locked, and you will not be able to use it until the next day.

Checking Your Balance and Managing Your Account

It is always a good idea to know your account balance before you start shopping to avoid any issues at the register. There are several ways to check your balance:

Look at your last store receipt.
Call the toll-free EBT customer service number printed on the back of your card.
Log in to your state’s online EBT portal or use a dedicated mobile app. Many states have their own apps, and third-party apps like Propel or ebtEDGE are also widely used.

These modern digital tools offer more than just balance inquiries. Through these apps and websites, you can view your recent transaction history, report a lost or stolen card and order a replacement, and access powerful new security features. For example, you can temporarily “freeze” your card to block all transactions if you misplace it, or you can choose to block all online purchases or all out-of-state purchases to protect your account from hackers.

The development of these advanced management tools, from simple phone hotlines to sophisticated mobile apps, reflects a broader shift toward digital self-service. This gives recipients more control than ever before, but it also creates a new kind of responsibility. The security of an EBT account now increasingly depends on the user’s ability and willingness to use these digital tools. A person who is not comfortable with technology, does not own a smartphone, or is simply unaware that these security features exist is far more vulnerable to fraud than someone who actively freezes their card between uses. This can create a “digital responsibility gap,” where two people with the same level of benefits may have very different levels of security based on their access to and knowledge of modern technology.

The Two Main Types of EBT Benefits: Food and Cash

Although they are often delivered on the same card, the EBT system handles at least two very different types of benefits: food assistance and cash assistance. Understanding the distinction is key to using your benefits correctly.

SNAP: Help with Groceries

SNAP stands for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. For many years, it was known as the Food Stamp Program, and many people still use that name. As its name suggests, SNAP’s only purpose is to help low-income individuals and families supplement their grocery budget to afford healthy, nutritious food. SNAP is a federal program created and funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), but it is managed at the local level by state agencies. This means that while the main rules about what you can buy are the same everywhere, you apply for benefits through your local state office. If you are approved, a monthly amount of food benefits is deposited directly into your EBT account. The amount you receive depends on factors like your household’s size and monthly income.

TANF: Help with Basic Needs

TANF stands for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. This program is often what people are referring to when they use the term “welfare” or “cash assistance”. TANF is also a federal program, but it works differently from SNAP. The federal government gives lump-sum payments, called block grants, to states. Each state then has a great deal of flexibility to design its own program to meet the needs of its residents. Because of this, the specific eligibility rules, the amount of cash provided, and any work requirements can be very different from one state to another.

TANF provides cash benefits that can be used for a much broader range of essential needs to help keep a family stable. This can include paying for rent, utility bills, clothing, transportation, and other basic necessities. Because these are cash benefits, they can be withdrawn from an ATM that displays the Quest® logo or used to get cash back at a store, just like with a regular debit card. TANF programs often have strict time limits on how long a person can receive benefits (for example, a 60-month lifetime limit) and may require participants to engage in work or job training activities.

Feature	SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)	TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families)
Common Name	“Food Stamps”	“Welfare,” “Cash Assistance,” or “Cash EBT”
Main Goal	To provide assistance for purchasing food.	To provide financial support to help families with children become self-sufficient.
What It Pays For	Groceries like fruits, vegetables, meat, dairy, bread, and seeds to grow food.	A wide range of basic needs like rent, utilities, clothing, transportation, and household supplies.
How It Works	Benefits can only be used to buy eligible food items at authorized stores. No cash withdrawals.	Benefits can be used like cash to buy non-food items or withdrawn from an ATM.
Key Rules	Rules are mostly set at the federal level by the USDA and are consistent across all states.	States have significant flexibility to set their own eligibility rules, benefit levels, and work requirements.

What Can I Buy with My EBT Card?

The rules for what you can purchase with your EBT card depend entirely on which type of benefit you are using: SNAP food benefits or TANF cash benefits.

SNAP Purchasing Power: A Guide to Eligible Foods

The general rule for SNAP is that you can use your benefits to buy most food items that are meant to be prepared and eaten at home. This covers a wide variety of groceries, including:

Fruits and vegetables (whether they are fresh, frozen, or canned).
Meat, poultry, and fish.
Dairy products like milk, cheese, and yogurt.
Breads and cereals, as well as rice and tortillas.
Other foods like snack foods (chips, cookies) and non-alcoholic beverages (soda, juice).
Seeds and plants that will produce food for the household to eat, such as tomato plants or vegetable seeds.

What SNAP Cannot Buy

The rules are just as specific about what is not allowed. SNAP benefits cannot be used to buy any non-food items, alcohol, tobacco, or foods that are sold hot and ready-to-eat. The list of prohibited items includes:

Beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes, or any other tobacco products.
Vitamins, medicines, and dietary supplements. The key thing to look for is the label on the product. If it has a “Supplement Facts” label, it is considered a supplement and cannot be purchased with SNAP. Eligible food items will have a “Nutrition Facts” label. This rule makes many popular energy drinks and protein powders ineligible.
Live animals, with the exception of shellfish, fish that have been removed from water, and animals that are slaughtered before you pick them up from the store.
Foods that are hot at the point of sale. This includes items like a rotisserie chicken from the deli or food from a hot bar.
Any non-food household items. This is a broad category that includes pet food, cleaning supplies, paper products (like paper towels and toilet paper), soap, diapers, and cosmetics.
In a recent clarification from the USDA, it is strictly forbidden to buy any foods or drinks that contain cannabis (marijuana) or CBD, even in states where such products are legal.

The strictness of these rules reveals a long-standing tension in public policy between the goal of providing aid and the desire to influence the choices of recipients. For example, while the federal rules currently allow the purchase of items like soda, candy, and other snack foods, a growing number of states have been asking the USDA for permission to ban these “junk foods” from their SNAP programs. This creates a complicated and potentially confusing situation for families. What is allowed today might be banned tomorrow if a state’s request is approved. This debate over what counts as “nutritious” food reflects a larger political conflict about the role of government in the lives of low-income people—whether assistance should be a flexible supplement to a family’s budget or a more prescriptive program that directs them toward specific, healthier choices.

YES – You Can Buy with SNAP	NO – You Cannot Buy with SNAP
Fruits & Vegetables (fresh, frozen, canned)	Beer, Wine, Liquor & Tobacco
Meat, Fish, & Poultry	Vitamins, Medicines, & Supplements (with a “Supplement Facts” label)
Dairy Products & Eggs	Hot, Prepared Foods (e.g., rotisserie chicken)
Breads & Cereals	Pet Food
Snack Foods & Non-alcoholic Drinks	Diapers & Baby Wipes
Seeds & Plants that grow food	Soap, Household Cleaners, & Paper Goods

Using TANF Cash Benefits: More Flexibility for Essentials

Because TANF provides cash assistance, the rules are much more flexible. These benefits are intended to help families pay for a wide range of basic living expenses that are necessary for stability. You can use TANF cash benefits, either by withdrawing cash from an ATM or using your EBT card at a store, to pay for things like:

Housing costs, such as rent or a mortgage payment.
Utility bills for electricity, heat, and water.
Clothing, shoes, and diapers.
Furniture and other essential household supplies.
Transportation costs, like gas or a bus pass.
Phone bills.
Medical supplies that are not covered by other programs like Medicaid.
Food (TANF cash can be used to buy any food items, including hot food, without the restrictions of SNAP).

What TANF Cannot Buy

While TANF is flexible, it is not a blank check. States have rules that restrict the use of cash benefits at certain types of businesses or for certain products. While these can vary by state, common prohibitions include using your EBT card to withdraw cash or make purchases at:

Liquor stores.
Casinos or any other gambling establishments.
Tattoo, body piercing, or body art shops.
Adult entertainment venues.
It is also illegal to use TANF funds to purchase items like alcoholic beverages or tobacco products.

Where to Shop with Your EBT Card

Your EBT card opens the door to a wide network of retailers, both in-person and online, giving you more choices for how and where you buy your family’s food.

In Stores and Supermarkets

EBT cards are accepted at more than 250,000 retail locations across the country. This includes the vast majority of supermarkets and grocery stores, large “superstores” like Walmart and Target, wholesale clubs like Costco and Sam’s Club, and many smaller convenience stores, pharmacies, and even some gas stations. To know if a store accepts EBT, look for a sign with the “EBT” or “Quest” logo, usually on the door or at the checkout counter. A major advantage of the EBT system is its portability; you can use your card at any authorized store in any state, not just the state that issued your card.

Shopping Online with EBT

In a significant modernization of the program, the USDA now allows SNAP benefits to be used for online grocery purchases at a growing number of approved retailers. Major companies like Amazon, Walmart, and Aldi participate in this online purchasing pilot, but the specific list of available stores varies by state. You will need to check the USDA’s website or your state’s program website to see which online stores are approved where you live.

There is one crucial limitation to shopping online: SNAP benefits can only be used to pay for the eligible food items in your cart. They cannot be used to cover any additional charges like delivery fees, service fees, or tips for the driver. These extra costs must be paid for with a separate form of payment, such as a personal debit or credit card.

At the Farmers’ Market: Fresh Food and Special Programs

Many farmers’ markets across the country are authorized to accept EBT, which is a fantastic way to use your benefits to buy fresh, locally grown food directly from farmers. The process at a farmers’ market often works a bit differently. Many markets use a token or “scrip” system. Here is how it typically works:

You find the market’s central information booth.
You tell the staff how much you want to spend from your EBT account (for example, $20).
They will swipe your EBT card, and you will enter your PIN.
In return, they will give you $20 worth of market tokens or scrip (which look like wooden coins or paper coupons).
You can then use these tokens just like cash to buy eligible food items from any of the individual farm stands at the market.

Even better, many states and markets offer incentive programs that stretch your food dollars further. Programs often called “Double Up Food Bucks” or the “Healthy Incentives Program (HIP)” will match the money you spend on fruits and vegetables. For example, if you spend $10 of your SNAP benefits, the program will give you an extra $10 to buy more fresh produce, effectively doubling your purchasing power.

While the expansion of EBT to online stores and farmers’ markets is a positive step, it highlights some real-world challenges. For online shopping, the inability to use SNAP for delivery fees can be a major obstacle. A family might have enough in their SNAP account to pay for groceries but lack the separate $5 or $10 needed for the delivery fee, making the online option inaccessible. Similarly, while farmers’ markets offer healthy food, the scrip system can be cumbersome. It requires an extra step, and managing a separate set of tokens can feel complicated. These issues create a “last-mile problem,” where a benefit is technically available but logistical hurdles prevent it from being easily used by everyone it is intended to help.

Applying for and Receiving Benefits: A Step-by-Step Overview

The process of applying for benefits involves meeting certain requirements and providing documentation to verify your household’s situation.

Who Can Apply?

Eligibility for programs like SNAP and TANF is mainly based on your household’s income and size, and in some cases, your assets (like money in a bank account).

Income: Generally, to qualify for SNAP, a household must have a gross monthly income (your income before any taxes or deductions are taken out) at or below 130% of the federal poverty line. Your net income (after certain deductions for expenses like housing and child care) must be at or below 100% of the poverty line.
Household: For SNAP purposes, a “household” is defined as all the people who live together and regularly purchase and prepare meals together.
Other Requirements: In most cases, applicants need to have or be applying for a Social Security number. There are also specific, and often complex, rules for certain groups, including non-U.S. citizens, college students, and able-bodied adults without dependents (sometimes called ABAWDs), who may have to meet work requirements to receive benefits.

The Application Process

You must apply for benefits in the state where you currently live. States offer several ways to submit an application:

Online: Most states have a benefits website or portal where you can apply online.
Mobile App: Some states have a dedicated mobile app for applying and managing benefits.
In Person or by Mail: You can always fill out a paper application and submit it in person or by mail to your local department of social services or human services office.

After you submit your application, the next step is usually an eligibility interview, which is often conducted over the phone with a caseworker. They will review your information and ask questions to determine if you qualify. You should receive a decision in the mail within 30 days. If you are in an emergency situation with very little money, you may be able to get “expedited benefits” in as little as 7 days. If your application is denied, you have the right to appeal the decision and ask for a fair hearing.

Documents You Might Need

When you apply, you will need to provide documents that prove the information you put on your application. The exact requirements can vary by state, but you should be prepared to provide copies of things like:

Proof of Identity: A driver’s license, state ID card, or birth certificate.
Proof of Address: A rent receipt, lease agreement, or a recent utility bill.
Proof of Income: Recent pay stubs, or letters showing income from other sources like Social Security or child support.
Proof of Expenses: Bills or statements for expenses like rent, child care, or medical costs can sometimes be used as deductions to help you qualify for a higher benefit amount.
Proof of Assets: For some programs like TANF, you may need to provide bank statements.

It is important to recognize that the application process itself can be a major challenge. The long list of required documents assumes a level of stability that many people in a crisis do not have. Someone who is homeless or fleeing an unsafe situation may not have easy access to their birth certificate or a lease agreement. This “administrative burden” can unintentionally prevent the most vulnerable people from getting the help they are legally entitled to receive. The system is often designed more for the convenience of administrators than for the accessibility of users, creating a gap where people who are eligible on paper cannot successfully complete the process.

More Than Just Food and Cash: Other EBT-Linked Perks

Your EBT card is more than just a tool for buying groceries; it can also be a key that unlocks a variety of other valuable programs and discounts designed to support your family’s well-being and social inclusion.

The EBT Card to Culture Program

In a growing number of states, your EBT card can get you and your family free or significantly discounted admission to hundreds of museums, science centers, zoos, and other cultural institutions. This initiative, often called “EBT Card to Culture” or a similar name, is designed to ensure that enriching educational and cultural experiences are accessible to all families, regardless of their income.

Linked Eligibility for Other Programs

Qualifying for SNAP or TANF can often make you automatically eligible for other important support programs, saving you the trouble of having to go through a separate application process.

Head Start: If you receive SNAP or TANF, your preschool-aged children may be automatically eligible for free Head Start or Early Head Start programs, which provide comprehensive early childhood education, health, and nutrition services.
Utility Assistance: Your participation in SNAP may make you eligible for programs that provide discounts on your utility bills, such as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) for heating and cooling costs, or the federal Lifeline program for phone and internet service.
Free School Meals: Children in households that receive SNAP benefits are generally eligible to receive free breakfast and lunch at their school.

These additional benefits reflect a growing understanding that fighting poverty requires a more holistic approach—one that supports not just basic survival but also social engagement and opportunities for growth. However, the effectiveness of these programs is often limited because many families simply do not know they exist. These perks are rarely the main focus of the application process and may only be mentioned in passing. This creates a significant “information gap,” where a family could be missing out on valuable support for months or even years. A truly effective social safety net would not just approve a family for benefits but would use that approval to proactively inform them of every other program they now qualify for.

Conclusion

The Electronic Benefits Transfer system is the modern gateway to essential support programs like SNAP and TANF. By replacing old paper coupons with a discreet and efficient debit-like card, the EBT system provides a more dignified way for millions of American families to access the food and cash assistance they need. Understanding that EBT is the delivery system and programs like SNAP and TANF are the benefits is the first step to mastering this tool. Knowing the specific rules—what you can buy with food benefits versus cash benefits, where you can shop, and how to protect your account with a secret PIN—empowers you to use your benefits confidently and effectively. While the system has its complexities, from online purchasing rules to the application process itself, being informed allows you to navigate these challenges, take full advantage of all available resources, and provide for your family’s stability and well-being.