Maryland is entering the next phase of its transition to new fraud-resistant Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards, with hundreds of thousands of recipients still needing to activate their new cards before a September 30 deadline.
As of August 23, more than 294,000 of Maryland’s nearly 507,000 recipients of the new “chip-and-tap” EBT cards, about 58%, had activated them. The Maryland Department of Human Services (DHS) is now expanding outreach through a “Don’t Wait, Activate” advertising campaign featuring Gov. Wes Moore.
Maryland began distributing the new cards this summer and became the fourth state in the country to introduce EBT cards featuring EMV chip-and-tap technology. The added security is intended to better protect Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and other benefit recipients from skimming and other forms of card fraud.
Recipients have until September 30 to activate their new cards. Existing magnetic-stripe-only cards will be deactivated after that date, while current benefit balances will remain unchanged and automatically transfer to the new cards.
DHS is also encouraging customers to use the ebtEDGE Cardholder Portal or official ebtEDGE mobile app to manage their accounts and avoid third-party apps. Customers who need assistance can contact EBT Vendor Services at 1-800-997-2222.
