Take an EBT Payment at the POS

In this article

Check the card balance

Pay with EBT

Example: partial payment of an EBT-eligible line

Void an EBT payment

This topic describes how to take EBT payments at the POS. Before you start, complete the setup listed in Set up and process EBT payments.

Check the card balance

For details on the balance inquiry commands and how to set up the EBT balance button, see Check an EBT Card Balance.

  1. Add the items to the transaction. The EBT amount tags on the POS menu show the total, paid, and balance amounts for EBT and for EBT Cash.
  2. Select the EBT balance button. The customer's card is read on the payment terminal and the remaining balance is returned. What the cashier sees depends on the command behind the button:
    • The EBT Balance Inquiry command (EBT_BALANCE) records the balance without showing it.
    • The EBT Balance Inquiry with Dialog command (EBT_BALANCE_DIALOG) also shows the balance in a pop-up message, EBT balance: <amount>.
  3. If the terminal does not approve the inquiry, the POS shows the message from the terminal, or EBT balance inquiry was not approved. if the terminal gives no message. The inquiry is not recorded as an approved balance inquiry and does not start the recovery of a failed card payment the next time you tender with a card.

Note: You can also run a balance inquiry before you add any items. The result is shown only (with the dialog command) and is not carried over to the sale you add items to later, so it does not count toward the EBT amount check. Run the inquiry again after you add the items.

Pay with EBT

  1. Select the EBT card tender type and enter the amount, or select it without an amount to use the remaining EBT balance amount. The amount cannot be greater than the EBT balance amount for the transaction; otherwise the POS shows the error <EBT type> Balance is <amount>.
  2. Run a balance inquiry on the sale before you pay, once for each tender type you pay with. The EBT card and EBT Cash each need their own inquiry. If no approved inquiry was done on the sale for the tender type, or the card balance is less than the EBT balance amount of the transaction, the POS shows the error EBT Card Amount <balance> is not sufficient (EBT Cash Amount <balance> is not sufficient for the EBT Cash tender type) and the payment is not made (the balance is 0.00 when no inquiry was done). The POS compares the card balance with the full EBT balance amount of the transaction, not with the amount you enter, so you cannot use the card for only part of the amount. Pay with another tender type instead. The check does not apply to returns.

    Insufficient EBT balance message at the POS

Example: partial payment of an EBT-eligible line

In this example, the customer buys four items and pays with three tender types: EBT, EBT Cash and Cash. The two milk items are eligible for EBT and the other two are not. The EBT tender pays part of the milk items without sales tax, the EBT Cash tender pays the other items, and Cash pays the rest. Item lines paid by EBT get the text - paid by <tender type description> added to their description.

  1. Add four items to the sales line: Milk 1 liter (price 10.00, line amount 10.20), Milk 2 liters (1.49, line amount 1.52), Bag Linda (30.00, line amount 30.60) and Sweater Linda (10.00, line amount 10.20). The balance is 52.52. The EBT column marks the milk items with Yes and the other items with No. The tags on the top right of the POS show an EBT total amount of 11.49 (the prices of the two milk items, without sales tax) and an EBT Cash total amount of 40.80. Nothing is paid yet, so the EBT balance amount is 11.49 and the EBT Cash balance amount is 40.80.

    POS with four items and EBT amount tags

  2. Make a partial payment of USD 5.49 with the EBT tender type. The POS adds an EBT payment line of 5.49 and splits the Milk 1 liter line. The part paid by EBT becomes a new line, Milk 1 liter - paid by EBT, with quantity 0.549 and amount 5.49, because no sales tax is charged. The rest stays on the original line, with quantity 0.451 and amount 4.60. The EBT paid amount is 5.49 and the EBT balance amount is 6.00. The EBT Cash amounts are unchanged. The transaction balance is 46.92.

    POS after a partial EBT payment

  3. Make a payment of USD 40.80 with the EBT Cash tender type. The POS adds an EBT Cash payment line of 40.80. The Bag Linda and Sweater Linda lines get the text paid by EBT Cash and keep their amounts of 30.60 and 10.20. The EBT Cash paid amount is 40.80 and the EBT Cash balance amount is 0.00. The EBT balance amount is still 6.00, and the transaction balance is 6.12.

    POS after the EBT Cash payment

  4. The remaining balance of 6.12 is for the milk lines that are not paid yet (Milk 1 liter 4.60 and Milk 2 liters 1.52). Pay the remaining USD 6.12 with Cash to complete the transaction.

Void an EBT payment

  • You cannot void an item line that is linked to an EBT payment. The POS shows the error This item line cannot be voided because it is linked to a limitation payment on line <n>.

  • Void the EBT payment line first.
  • When you void the EBT payment line, the item lines it paid are reset, and each line gets the item's own tax group back.