Your EBT Card: Checking the Balance, Replacing a Lost Card and Stopping Theft

1How do I check my balance?

There are three quick ways, and none of them costs anything:

• Your last receipt. Each purchase receipt shows the balance left in your SNAP account, and in your cash account if your state puts cash benefits on the same card.
• The customer service number printed on the back of your EBT card, which also handles lost and stolen cards.
• Your state's EBT website or app, which usually shows recent purchases as well as the balance.

Checking recent purchases, not just the balance, is the fastest way to spot theft. A charge you did not make, especially in another state, is a reason to call customer service and change your PIN the same day.

2What should I do the moment my card is lost or stolen?

Call your state's EBT customer service number, or use the state's website or app, and report it. Federal rules require the state to place an immediate hold on the account when it receives the report, and to keep a record of the date and time you reported it.

From that point the state is responsible for any benefits used with the lost or stolen card, and it must replace them. Benefits taken before you reported the card generally are not covered, which is why reporting comes before searching the house. Write down the date, time and any confirmation number from your call.

3How fast will I get a new card?

The state must make a replacement card available for you to pick up, or put it in the mail, within two business days after you report the loss. A state may charge for the replacement by taking the fee from your monthly benefit, but the fee cannot be more than the cost of the card.

If a household asks for many replacements, a state can require it to contact the agency before issuing another one. That threshold must be at least four cards in 12 months, and states must protect people who lose cards repeatedly without any fraud, such as people with disabilities, older adults and people who are homeless. Once you make contact, the card still has to be made available or mailed within two business days.

4What if my card is damaged or my PIN stops working?

A card that will not swipe, or a chip or stripe that has worn out, is replaced the same way as a lost one: call customer service and ask for a new card. A forgotten PIN, or a card locked after too many wrong tries, can usually be reset through customer service or the state's website or app, without a new card.

Asking for a new PIN or card puts the same hold on the account as a lost-card report, so expect a short gap before you can shop again, and keep enough food on hand to cover it if you can.

5What about benefits stolen by skimming?

Skimming is theft by a hidden device attached to a store's card reader, which copies the card's data and PIN so thieves can make a cloned card. Because the thieves use a copy, your own card stays in your wallet, and many people learn of the theft only when the balance is gone.

For a time, federal funds replaced benefits lost this way. That authority covered benefits stolen from October 1, 2022, through December 20, 2024, generally up to two replacements a household in each federal fiscal year. Congress did not extend it, so benefits stolen on or after December 21, 2024, cannot be replaced with federal money.

States may still choose to replace stolen benefits with their own funds, so report a theft to your SNAP agency even now and ask whether your state offers replacement. Before you call, write down the dates and amounts of the charges you did not make and any store or location the account history shows. USDA has also encouraged states to move to EBT cards with chips, which are harder to copy than magnetic stripes.

6How can I protect my card?

• Change your PIN regularly, and right away if you see a charge you do not recognize or used a card reader that looked tampered with.
• Cover the keypad with your hand when you enter your PIN.
• Check the card reader before you swipe. A reader that sticks out, feels loose or looks different from the store's other readers may have a skimmer on it.
• Use your state's card-lock feature if it has one, locking the card between shopping trips.
• Never share your PIN or card number in response to a call, text or email, even one that claims to be from the SNAP office; our guide to benefit scams shows the common approaches.
• Check your balance and recent purchases every week or two.

7Where can I use the card?

You can use SNAP at stores authorized by USDA, which display a sign saying they accept SNAP or EBT, with some retailers for online grocery orders, and at many farmers markets. SNAP covers food for the household to prepare and eat, along with seeds and plants that produce food; it does not cover hot prepared foods, alcohol, tobacco or household supplies. Our guide to what SNAP can buy goes item by item.

Benefits you do not spend stay in your account into later months, so there is no need to spend them all at once. Leaving them untouched for a long stretch is a different matter, though: a state can remove benefits from an account that has not been used for many months.

8What if my benefits did not arrive or look wrong?

Check your state's issuance schedule first, since states deposit benefits on different days of the month. If the deposit is missing on the expected day, or smaller than your notice says, contact your SNAP office rather than EBT customer service, which handles cards, not eligibility.

A missing deposit is often a paperwork problem: a renewal that was due, or a change report the office is waiting for. Our guide to SNAP recertification explains the deadlines that stop benefits when they are missed, and our SNAP guide explains how the monthly amount is set.