SNAP, EBT outages reported across the country

(Gray News) - An outage affecting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program was reported across the country Sunday, according to Down Detector.

The program, known as SNAP, provides nutrition benefits to supplement the food budget of low-income families so they can purchase healthy food. Electronic Benefits Transfer, known as EBT, is an electronic system similar to a debit card that allows a SNAP participant to pay for food using SNAP benefits.

On Sunday afternoon, the South Carolina Department of Social Services tweeted: “DSS is aware of EBT processing issues with approved retailers, impacting the ability for clients to use their EBT cards, due to a third party processor outage impacting programs in multiple states.”

The department tweeted Sunday evening: “The third party processor for EBT cards has confirmed to DSS that all systems have been restored and cards issued to clients should be operational statewide at approved EBT retailers.”

The Massachusetts Department of Transitional Assistance tweeted Sunday afternoon: “DTA has been informed by the state’s EBT vendor that the EBT system is currently down in Massachusetts & some other states. You will not be able to use your EBT card or check your real time balance at this time. However, retailers may be able to manually authorize your purchase.”

The department tweeted an update Sunday evening, writing: “DTA has been informed by the state’s EBT vendor that the EBT system is currently back up and running. The agency will continue to monitor the system. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.”

As of 12 a.m. ET, Down Detector was showing around 350 reports of an outage, down from a peak of 5,019 around 2:50 p.m.