EBT Transactions
Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) is an electronic system that allows a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participant to pay for food.
Overview
Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) is an electronic system that allows a Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participant to pay for food using their food stamp benefits. For EBT-based transactions to take place through the Commander, method of payments (MOPs) must be created with the correct EBT MOP codes.
How to Create an EBT-Food Stamp MOP
Navigate to Configuration Client > Store Operations > Payment > MOP to configure MOPs.
Find and select the next available slot from the ‘Select MOP’ field to create a new MOP.
Edit the name of the MOP to ‘EBT FS’
Select the MOP Code of ‘20-EBT_FS’ from the drop-down menu
Select the ‘Tender Amount Required’ option and any other applicable MOP Options for the site. NOTE: Refer to the Verifone Commander User Reference Guide for further details. The User Reference Guide can be located at Verifone Commander User References
Select ‘Save’.
How to Create an EBT-CASH MOP
Navigate to Configuration Client > Store Operations > Payment > MOP
Find and select the next available slot from the ‘Select MOP’ field to create a new MOP.
Edit the name of the MOP to ‘EBT CASH’
Select the MOP Code of 21-EBT_Cash from the drop-down menu.
Select the applicable MOP Options.
Select ‘Save’.
How to Create an EBT-Manual MOP
Navigate to Configuration Client > Store Operations > Payment > MOP
Find and select the next available slot from the ‘Select MOP’ field to create a new MOP.
Edit the name of the MOP to ‘EBT Manual’.
Select the MOP Code of ‘22-Manual EBT CB’ from the drop-down menu.
Select the applicable MOP Options for the site.
Select ‘Save’.
EBT MOP Codes:
20 - EBT Food Stamp: Electronic, non-paper food stamps. Amounts for this MOP can be entered as dollars and cents.
21 - EBT Cash Benefit: Electronic, non-paper cash benefit. Amounts for this MOP can be entered as dollars and cents.
22 – Manual EBT CB: Manual non-paper cash benefit. Amounts for this MOP can be entered as dollars and cents.
NOTE: The Manual EBT CB MOP Code is usually used with food stamp transactions performed with a standalone EBT terminal.
Adding EBT MOPs on Touch Screen
Navigate to Store Operations > Touch Screen > Panel Configuration
Panels Configuration
Use the Item Panels tab to configure a panel with the newly created EBT MOPs. Select an existing panel to add the newly created EBT MOPs or to create a new item panel use the following steps:
Click ‘Add’ to add a new Item Panel
Enter a name for the Item Panel in the ‘Name’ field.
Click ‘Add Item’ from the bottom of the page.
Click Type and select ‘MOP’ from the drop-down menu.
Select the appropriate EBT MOP from the drop-down menu and click ‘Ok’.
Repeat steps 3-5 from above, until all applicable EBT MOPs for the site have been added.
Once the panel has been created with the new EBT MOPs, we will need to assign them to a screen, we will then assign that screen to the register.
Screen Configuration
To create a new screen, navigate to Store Operations > Touch Screen > Screen Configuration
All previously created screen will be located on the right-hand side in the Select Screen field. To add the newly created Item Panel to an existing screen, select the screen from the field and select ‘Add Panel’ from the bottom of the page. To create a brand-new screen, use the following steps:
Click ‘Add’, to create a new screen.
Enter a name for the screen in the ‘Name’ field.
Click ‘Add Panel’ from the bottom of the page.
Select Item Panel from the drop-down menu. *
Select the appropriate Item Panel with the newly created EBT MOPs under the ‘Available’ section and select the ‘>’ to move it to the ‘Selected’ section and click ‘Ok’. **
Click ‘Save’.
Register Configuration
Once the screen has been configured, we will now need to assign the screen to a register. To assign a screen to a register navigate to Store Operations > Touch Screen > Register Configuration.
Select the register you would like to assign a screen to, from the ‘Register Names’ field.
Select the appropriate screen(s) you would like to assign to the register from the ‘Available’ field.
Select the ‘>’ or ‘>>>’ to move a single selected screen or all screens to the selected register.
Select ‘Save’ from the top-right corner.
After MOP entries are configured as EBT Food Stamp and/or EBT Cash Benefits, pressing the Credit button allows a cashier to accept the EBT card without asking the customer if they are using an EBT card. When the card is read by the PIN pad and identified by the Electronic Payment Server (EPS), the EPS reports back to the POS the MOP type (credit, debit, EBT food stamp, EBT Cash).
Considerations
Items that are eligible for EBT benefits should have the Food Stamp parameter enabled in Store Operations > PLUs as well as the Allow Food Stamps parameter enabled in Store Operations > Merchandise > Departments.
EBT Cash Benefit allows purchase of non-food stamp eligible items.
If food stamps are tendered for less than the eligible amount and the food-stamp items are taxable, a “Tax Credit” appears on the receipt. The credit is the difference between the total tax due on the items and the tax charged on the taxable items not paid for with food stamps. For example, if an amount of $16.17 is qualified for payment with food stamps, of which 10.55 is taxable at a tax rate of 7%, then $0.74 tax is due on the $10.55. If the customer tenders $10.00 in food stamps leaving a balance of $6.17, of which $.55 is taxable. The Tax Credit is $0.70 (7% of 10.00) and the tax the customer owes is $0.04 (7% of $0.55).
PERFORMING EBT TRANSACTION
To perform EBT transactions, follow the steps outlined below:
Ring up items using POS
Press the [Total] key once all items are rung up
Press the [Credit] MOP key
Have the customer follow the instructions on the PIN pad to complete the transaction.
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