Comment Request - SNAP Mobile Payment Pilots

Title 7 Section 2016(h)(14) of the U.S. Code, as amended by Section 4006(e) of the Agricultural Act of 2018 (PL 115-334), requires the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to authorize the use of mobile payment technology for accessing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits through smart phones, tablets, and other personal mobile devices in place of Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) cards.

Need and Use of the Information

FNS plans to issue a request for volunteers soliciting MPPs proposals from up to 53 SNAP state agencies; and, approve up to five of those state agencies that, in partnership with private, for-profit, EBT stakeholders and authorized SNAP retailers, will implement MPPs that test the use of mobile payment technology by SNAP households to access and redeem program benefits.

FNS must evaluate the data and observations collected and determine whether it is feasible to implement this technology nation-wide, whether further study is required before doing so, or if implementation is not in the best interest of the program, and submit report to report to Congress with the basis of its findings. This information collection is necessary because Congress has specifically mandated that approval and subsequent evaluation of MPPs by state agencies must occur before FNS can fulfill its broader statutory obligations to allow mobile payment technology in SNAP nation-wide.