Mass. Gov. Healey orders chip-enabled EBT cards as part of fraud prevention effort

BOSTON — Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey is ordering the state to implement chip-enabled EBT cards in an effort to boost security in the Bay State’s SNAP program.

The move comes after a series SNAP fraud busts in the state and the Herald’s reporting on a DTA whistleblower’s claims of “rampant” SNAP fraud in the federally backed state program.

Healey has ordered the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) to implement chip-enabled EBT cards into the state’s SNAP program, as tens of millions of dollars in public assistance fraud has been uncovered in the state.

“Massachusetts is taking action to protect families and the programs they rely on to afford groceries and other essential goods,” Gov. Maura Healey said in a written statement.

“These new chip-enabled EBT cards will strengthen protections against theft and make sure this support is going to the people who need it. We’re one of the first states in the nation to adopt this new technology because protecting taxpayer dollars is a top priority for us, and we thank retailers and clients in advance for working with us to implement this,” she said.

The adoption of the chip-enabled cards makes Massachusetts the third state in the country to do so. It also comes as tens of millions of dollars in SNAP fraud, as well as other public benefits fraud, has been uncovered by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the state Auditor’s Office.

The Healey administration has also started notifying Massachusetts retailers of the upcoming change, updating point of sale (POS) systems that will be able to accept the new cards. Healey’s office says the DTA will begin piloting the program later this year.

Despite the implementation of the chip cards, Healey’s office maintains that SNAP fraud is a rarity in Massachusetts, saying that less than one-percent of the entire SNAP caseload has been found tied to fraud.

But the DTA whistleblower who told the Herald the state has lackluster controls and protocols at the department to prevent fraud, says that figure only represents the people caught committing fraud.

According to the whistleblower, abuse of the SNAP program goes undetected at a substantially higher rate due to directives from upper management to not dig into questionable applicants or active cases.

“It’s certainly a good thing to stop the continued bleeding of funds — but that it didn’t occur sooner leaves many with unrecovered losses and blazes right past how significant the losses were,” the whistleblower told the Herald in reaction to Healey’s latest move.

“It’s taking kudos for a proper step that was urgent three years ago while saying little about the problem. And it’s also not saying that feds were willing to help fund tech for secure measures until DTA lost funding due to error,” they said.

Haywood Talcove, the CEO of data analytics company LexisNexis, spoke with the Herald about the rate of fraud in Massachusetts and detailed the criminal activity being undertaken for fraudsters to obtain private SNAP information and steal benefits.

“These foreign criminal organizations get friends and teach them how to get stolen EBT cards or they just flat-out steal identities in various ways, like through point of sale (POS) terminals at grocery stores where customers swipe their cards, usually a terminal that’s been cloned from a bad third-party payment processing company. That allows them to pretend that they’re entering food into the system, but they’re just entering nonsense, and that’s how they get their reimbursement from the USDA,” Talcove told the Herald. He said adding the chip-based cards would be a significant step in preventing fraud and stolen benefits.

DTA Commissioner Michael Cole is applauding the move, saying it will further reduce the rate of stolen benefits from the recipients who need it the most.

“DTA’s job is to provide support to eligible households in need, and blocking criminal actors who would intervene and steal those benefits is an absolute top priority. After years of advocacy and hard work to get here, Massachusetts is excited to introduce a measure that will further reduce opportunities for benefits to be stolen, helping families put food on the table and stopping theft before it occurs,” said DTA Commissioner Michael Cole. “Thanks to the Governor and Legislature’s investment, EBT cards will be better aligned with the safeguards that have long existed for commercial credit and debit cards. We’re hopeful that retailers can quickly adopt the technology needed to utilize this card technology, and we stand ready to make sure this process goes as smoothly as possible.”

Chip and tap-enabled EBT cards were not authorized by federal government for use until 2024. The guidance for states to implement these more secure EBT cards was not released until August 2025, Healey’s office says.

Nearly one million people in Massachusetts are on the state’s SNAP program, supported by 5,500 SNAP retailers who accept EBT transactions.

“Massachusetts chip and tap-enabled EBT cards will contain a Europay Mastercard Visa (EMV) microchip and other technology that is much more secure than a traditional magnetic stripe EBT card,” Healey’s office said in a press release.

“For every transaction, the microchip generates a unique code that must be verified by the EBT system before the transaction will be authorized. Chip and tap-enabled EBT cards complete transactions by either being inserted into a POS terminal, or tapped on the POS terminal, rather than swiped using the magnetic stripe,” it said.

This all as Healey refuses to hand over personal information on Massachusetts SNAP recipients, including immigration status, to the Trump administration and the USDA. Healey says the Trump administration has given her office no assurances that the data will not be passed on to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

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