The EBT card has a 16 digit card number on the front. If the card was issued through the mail, the cardholder's name is printed on the front. If the card was issued at the local social service office, the cardholder's name is not printed on the front.

The back of the card has a place for the cardholder to sign under the black magnetic stripe. It also lists the toll free customer service number.

EBT cards must be cared for properly or the black magnetic stripe will not work. Keep the card in a safe place. Do not bend or fold the EBT card, do not scratch or write on the black magnetic stripe, and do not wash the card. Do not leave the card near magnets (like purse clasps or refrigerator magnets) or near electronic equipment. Do not leave the card in the sun or other hot places like the dashboard of a car.

To use the EBT card, the cardholder swipes the EBT card at the point of sale in a card reader, then enters his or her secret PIN. Some merchants, such as route vendors, farmer's markets or stores where the food stamp volume is low, will not have point of sale card readers - these merchants use a manual paper voucher to accept EBT cards. This voucher requires the retailer to enter information about the transaction, and then call the retailer hot line for authorization.

Cardholders should know the balance in their EBT accounts before they shop. They can keep track of their balance by doing the following:

Every cardholder must select a PIN (Personal Identification Number) before the card can be used. The cardholder must call the toll free customer service help desk at 1-866-281-2448, and follow the prompts to select a PIN.

The PIN is a four-digit number that the cardholder chooses when an EBT account is activated. It should be a number easy for the cardholder to remember but hard for someone else to guess.

When buying groceries, the cardholder swipes the EBT card in the card reader, and then enters his or her PIN on the keypad. Without a correct PIN, the EBT card cannot access the money in the account.

Cardholders must keep their PIN a secret. Their PIN should never be shared with anyone. The PIN should not be written on the EBT card or on any piece of paper that is kept in the same place as the card. If someone gets the EBT card and knows the PIN, that person can spend all the money in a person's food stamp account. If that happens, the money will not be replaced.

To protect EBT accounts, if a PIN is entered wrong five times in a row, the account cannot be used that day unless the cardholder chooses another PIN. The cardholder can change a PIN by calling the toll free customer service help desk at 1-866-281-2448 and following the prompts to select or change a PIN.

Food Stamp benefits that are not spent in the month they are issued remain in the account. Even if the cardholder's Food Stamp case closes, benefits remaining in the EBT account can continue to be spent. However, if a cardholder fails to make a purchase for 90 days, and there is money in the account, the account goes dormant. The cardholder must contact the local social service office to re-activate the account. If the household had been over-issued Food Stamp benefits, money in a dormant account can be taken to repay the over-issuance. If the cardholder fails to make a purchase with benefits sitting in an account for 365 days, those benefits are removed and can no longer be activated.

If a card was issued under the Disaster Food Stamp Program, the unused benefits are removed after 90 days of inactivity instead of 365.

When an EBT card is lost, stolen, or damaged, the cardholder should call the toll free customer service help desk at 1-866-281-2448. The help desk is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The caller will hear a prompt for English or Spanish, then a prompt to enter the 16 digit card number. Stay on the line! If no card number is entered, the caller will hear a message that says if the card has been lost, stolen, or damaged, press 2.

After verifying the identity and address of the caller, the original card will be deactivated and a new one issued. If the cardholder's address has changed, the customer service representative will tell the cardholder to report the change to the local social service agency. The customer service representative cannot change the address in the EBT system; that change must be sent over by the local agency. Once the address has been updated, a new EBT card can be issued.

On rare occasions, there may be a problem with such things as a being charged twice, or retailers processing a voucher twice. When disputes happen, the cardholder should speak with the store manager or assistant manager to resolve the issue. If the cardholder cannot work out a solution with the retailer, the cardholder may call the toll free customer service help desk at 1-866-281-2448 and file a claim. Claims take approximately 15 business days for resolution.