New bill would require SNAP EBT cards to have microchips and other safeguards to combat 'skimming'

A U.S. senator from Oregon introduced a bill Thursday that would dramatically increase the security of the benefits cards that low-income families use to buy groceries.

The bill comes amid a startling number of thefts from participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, whose electronic benefits transfer cards contain data on a magnetic stripe that is easy for criminals to clone using hidden “skimming” devices. The thieves produce duplicate cards that they use to drain victims’ SNAP funds.

Skimming is not unique to SNAP EBT cards, but embedded microchips and other features, such as contactless payments, have long combated this form of electronic robbery in consumer credit and debit cards.

No states currently issue chip-enabled SNAP EBT cards, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department, which oversees SNAP, a program formerly known as food stamps. Some, such as California, are in the planning stages of transitioning to chip cards.

The bipartisan, bicameral bill, shared first with NBC News, was introduced by Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden. If passed, it would direct the USDA to issue updated cybersecurity regulations for all SNAP EBT cards for the first time since 2010, requiring them to have microchips.

“Families right now are as vulnerable as ever, having their SNAP benefits stolen by crooks,” Wyden said in a phone interview before the bill's introduction. “This is just unacceptable for 2024 in America.”

Liliya Kondratyuk, a day care teacher and single mother who lives in Lynn, Massachusetts, had her SNAP benefits skimmed just before Thanksgiving in 2022. She learned her funds had been stolen while trying to pay for groceries at the supermarket — and discovered that more than $750 had been wiped out, leaving