The Texas Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) system delivers services to food stamp and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) clients of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). This mission-critical function of the agency provides more than two million Texas clients with easy access to the benefits they need to enable them to purchase basic essentials.
Eligibility determination staff in approximately 320 state offices use the EBT web-based program for Lone Star cards. Texas clients access their benefits in more than 11,000 participating retail locations across the state. In
FY 2005, more than 108 million food stamp and TANF transactions were processed through the Lone Star EBT system.
For clients, the process itself is simple. The Lone Star card is scanned/swiped for payment the same way that a commercial card is scanned/swiped. The client enters his or her personal identification number (PIN), which protects the card from use by unauthorized people. The transaction is carried from the point-of-sale (POS) device through a third-party processor's network to the EBT host system. The EBT system then locates that client's benefits and removes an amount equal to the purchase amount from further access. A response authorizing the purchase is generated and returned in a matter of seconds.
The purchase amount is processed that night, transferring funds from federal and state sources to the third-party processors. The processors then transmit payment to the individual retailers. Quite an improvement over the paper system, under which payments could take up to six weeks to process!
EBT operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with its primary goal remaining that of consistent, rapid issuance and safe, simple, continuous access to benefits for Texas citizens. Additional information about the history of EBT in Texas is available on this website.
