Massachusetts EBT Card: How To Use Your SNAP Benefits

Once you’ve gone through the application process for SNAP and been approved, your EBT card will arrive in the mail. You may also have the option to pick up your card at a local DTA office. Here’s how to begin using your benefits:

Now that your card has arrived and you have been approved for the program, the next step is to set up a PIN for the card. There are rare occasions where your EBT card may arrive before your case is approved. You can still PIN the card, but there may not be an available balance yet.

Benefits are electronically transferred onto the card once your case is approved, but when the card arrives, you will need to set up a 4-digit pin number by calling the EBT Customer Service Line (located on the back of your card) at 1-800-997-2555. Make sure to select a pin number that you will be able to remember.

Please note: It is also possible that you may be categorically eligible for $0, meaning that when your income and expense information was calculated, the amount of SNAP benefits you qualified for was $0. However, you are still considered a SNAP recipient and can receive any associated benefits, such as utility discounts. For questions or concerns around a $0 balance, contact the DTA Assistance Line at 1.877.382.2363.

Please note: SNAP cannot be used to buy alcohol, tobacco, personal care items, or hot food. However, some people have an EBT card for their Transitional Aid to Families with Dependent Children (TAFDC) cash assistance benefits. TAFDC benefits can be used to purchase food and non-food items. For information on TAFDC eligibility, contact your local DTA office.

SNAP recipients are also automatically enrolled in the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP).

HIP puts funds back on your EBT card when you use SNAP to buy healthy, local fruits and vegetables from HIP farm vendors (up to a monthly cap of $40, $60, or $80 depending on household size), so you can extend your food budget each month.

You can spend your HIP benefits on fruits and vegetables at approved HIP vendors which include farmer's markets, farm stands, mobile markets, and community supported agriculture (CSA) farm share programs. Find HIP vendors near you here.