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How to Check Your Food Stamp Balance

SNAP enrollees will need to check the food stamp balance associated with their accounts once they begin spending their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. Each month, petitioners’ local SNAP departments use an Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) method to distribute program funds to enrollees. Once beneficiaries make a purchase using their EBT card, their total amounts of disposable funds for the month decrease. As a result, SNAP recipients need to be sure that they monitor and check their EBT card balance to ensure they always have funds to cover the total prices of their grocery purchases.

SNAP beneficiaries have a variety of options regarding the ways in which they can check the EBT food stamp card balance associated with their program accounts. The sections below will explain in detail the different methods enrollees can use to check the SNAP balance they have remaining. Likewise, additional sections will provide program beneficiaries with additional information about managing their funds. This is to help ensure enrollees maximize their benefits each month and are never caught with insufficient funds.

How do I check my food stamp balance?

Regularly checking one’s EBT card balance is one of the most responsible habits SNAP enrollees can partake in. This action makes food stamp recipients privy to how much money they have available in their accounts before these enrollees go on grocery shopping trips. As a result, candidates who regularly and proactively check their food stamp balance before and after each shopping trip can help ensure they will always have ample funds to cover their upcoming purchases. Since each state locally manages its own food stamps program, different parts of the country may have specific regulations regarding how claimants may manage their accounts. However, awardees wondering how to check the EBT balance relating to their SNAP claims may generally do so if they utilize the following methods:

  • Online – Generally, SNAP enrollees wishing to check their food stamp balance online are able to do so using this option. Numerous states permit beneficiaries to review their EBT balances from a computer or phone by logging into their states’ websites.
  • App – The Fresh EBT food stamp app is a tool that SNAP beneficiaries can download onto their smartphones. Available in all states, users can log into this feature and check their remaining benefits at any location where their cell phone data is available.
  • Phone – SNAP recipients may call their states’ food stamps number to check the balance remaining on their EBT cards. This automated system requires beneficiaries to enter their EBT card numbers in order to access their remaining benefit totals.
  • Receipt – Program beneficiaries may also check their remaining EBT card balances by reviewing any receipts they are given after making transactions with these cards. Grocery card receipts will print enrollees’ remaining totals on the sheets. Likewise, program participants may also view their SNAP balances by accessing this information at an ATM machine.

What do I need to check my food stamp balance?

Before claimants can verify their EBT balance, they must first learn the types of information they need to have on hand in order to check their remaining sums. These requirements vary from state to state, and they also change depending on the ways in which enrollees are checking their totals. However, food stamps recipients hoping to check their SNAP balance should be prepared to produce the following information, if necessary:

  • Social Security Numbers
  • EBT card numbers
  • Food stamp account PIN numbers

Without this information, applicants will often be unable to determine the specific amount of funds available. However, online systems will only require claimants to log in with their pre-created login credentials.

Do food stamps roll over or expire?

Many SNAP recipients wonder, “Do food stamps roll over?” This question is especially common once enrollees’ award months are set to expire and they are about to receive a new batch of food stamp funds. Awardees may worry if they have any funds remaining on their food stamp card balance at the end of the month that they will lose these monies. However, this is not the case. Throughout the country, food stamp benefits roll over from one month to another. This means that claimants who complete their grocery shopping for their allotted weeks and have some extra funding to spare will not need to forfeit those saved dollars in order to receive their new stipends.

Likewise, claimants wondering, “What happens to unused food stamps?” may also be concerned that any SNAP funds they did not use will be deducted from next month’s total. This does not happen either. When beneficiaries check the food stamp balance for their accounts at the end of the month, they will notice that they are in no way penalized for not using some of their benefits. As a result, claimants will receive their allotted payments regardless of how much unused SNAP money they have on their EBT cards.

Along similar lines, petitioners may ask, “Do food stamps expire?” Since SNAP benefits roll over from one month to the next, enrollees may be concerned about their funds becoming unusable. This only happens after one year. Therefore, claimants have 365 days to utilize their food stamp monies on their EBT card before the funds are no longer valid and disappear.

If your family has been using food stamps (also called SNAP), then you know they no longer require paper vouchers to pay for your food purchases. The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program will now offer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards to those who qualify for benefits. At the beginning of each month, they put your set amount of benefits on the card and you can use them as you choose. However you probably won’t use them all in one grocery shopping trip, so it helps to check your balance in quick and effective ways.

Check Your Balance Online

The quickest and easiest way to check your food stamps balance is by visiting the JP Morgan Chase EBT website at https://www.ebtaccount.jpmorgan.com. When you visit the website, you will need to first register an account by entering you name, account o card number, and pin. This allows you to simply enter the card number and pin when you return and get immediate access to your balance. If you have Internet access, this will be the easiest way to check the current balance. It also lets you see your most recent purchases in case you’re wondering about the balance.

Check Your Balance by Phone

If you don’t have access to a computer, you can check your balance by phone. This will take a little longer than checking it online, but is effective at knowing your balance when other methods aren’t available to you. If you turn your food stamp EBT card over, you will see a phone number there. Call the number and go through the command prompts to enter your card number and PIN. Within a couple minutes, you will able to hear your current balance.

Check Your Balance at an ATM

The last method of checking your balance is at an ATM machine. The EBT card offered for food stamps by the SNAP program is issued by JP Morgan Chase, therefore it can be used at most ATM machines. Visit an ATM that accepts this type of card and go through the prompts to check your balance. You will of course need to enter your pin and press the “Check Balance” prompt. You can either view the balance on the screen or print a receipt with the balance printed on it. Be aware some ATM machines might charge you their normal ATM fee just for checking the balance; on average, fees range between $1.50 and $3.50 per transaction. Food stamps provide you a way to feed healthy food to your family when you’re on a limited income. These methods make it easy to view your current SNAP balance.

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