EBT card transactions to be unavailable in Delaware early Aug. 13

With the Department of Health and Social Services' Division of Social Services transitioning to a new Electronic Benefit Transfer vendor this weekend, Delaware food benefit clients will not be able to access their benefits via their EBT cards from midnight, Saturday, Aug. 12, through 8:30 a.m., Sunday, Aug. 13.

The conversion to new vendor Conduent Inc. from JPMorgan Chase & Co. will not mean any other changes for clients of Delaware's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program beyond the brief system downtime, said Ray Fitzgerald, director of the Division of Social Services, which administers Delaware's SNAP Program.

Fitzgerald said clients will be notified of the EBT card outage time through the division website and social media outlets, and via posters in division offices. Emails also are being sent to community partners, and retail outlets have been notified so they can put up posters in their stores alerting customers that the EBT system will be down during those hours.

"We know that any downtime is inconvenient to someone," Fitzgerald said. "But we hope to spread the word early enough and wide enough that our SNAP clients can make plans to alter their grocery shopping from early Sunday morning to a period before or after the scheduled downtime."

Fitzgerald said the change in vendors will not affect current EBT cards, and that issuance dates will remain the same as they are scheduled.

When clients call the customer service number at 1-800-526-9099, they will reach JPMorgan through Sunday, Aug.13, and Conduent representatives beginning Monday, Aug. 14.