H.R. 7316 — SNAP Payment Security and Fraud Prevention Act of 2026

This section establishes authority for the Inspector General of the Department of Agriculture to investigate and coordinate multi-jurisdictional efforts to prevent, detect, and prosecute theft, misuse, or fraudulent access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, including cyber-enabled theft such as skimming, cloning, phishing, spoofing, and unauthorized access to electronic benefit transfer (EBT) systems. The Inspector General may (1) issue subpoenas, execute warrants, and initiate civil or criminal referrals; (2) coordinate with the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Homeland Security, Secret Service, state and local law enforcement, and financial institutions; (3) request and receive data from state EBT processors and vendors; and (4) participate in interagency cyber task forces or fraud detection initiatives. The section further authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to issue rules and allocate funds to support these activities.

This section establishes a civil penalty equal to twice the value of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits for any person who knowingly accesses, uses, or transfers such benefits issued to a household without authorization. The Secretary of Agriculture may assess and enforce the penalty through an administrative proceeding under section 14 of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008 or a civil action in U.S. district court, with recovered funds used to reimburse affected households and to cover costs of enhanced investigatory authority for the Department of Agriculture Inspector General. (This penalty applies in addition to any other civil or criminal penalties.)

This section requires the Secretary of Agriculture, not later than two years after enactment and with reviews every five years thereafter, to promulgate cybersecurity and digital service regulations for electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards and mobile payments in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—which provides food purchase benefits to eligible low-income households—ensuring such measures match private-sector and federal standards for credit, debit, and other payment cards. The regulations must require (1) each state to operate required user interfaces from a Secretary-maintained list (including a web-based portal, mobile application, free application programming interface for third-party software, and—for 10 years—text messaging, voice telephone service, and nondigital options), which must be available in required languages, achieve 99% uptime, and—for web portals—be mobile friendly; (2) states to offer households opt-in access via digital interfaces to timely transaction notices, 12 months of searchable transaction history (including amount, merchant, location, and delivery details), and fraud reporting, with notifications about prior fraud reimbursements and restrictions; and (3) states to enable households to restrict EBT cards for online transactions to virtual card numbers or tokenization technology. (Thus, these measures aim to reduce EBT fraud, such as card skimming and cloning, by mandating chip-enabled cards resistant to cloning and NIST-compliant PIN/password standards.)

This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture to promulgate, not later than 180 days after the effective date, regulations requiring states to issue replacement Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) households for cards that are damaged, no longer function properly, stolen, or frozen due to fraud, with delivery by mail or in person as selected by the household, not later than 3 business days after the household's request. The regulations must further prohibit states from requiring in-person collection of new or replacement EBT cards while offering it as an option.

This section prohibits state agencies from charging fees for replacement of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards if the replacement is due to (1) card malfunction, (2) suspected or reported fraud by an individual outside the household, (3) card expiration, or (4) required replacement in compliance with regulations under 7 U.S.C. 2016(h)(15)(B), effective 60 days after enactment.

This section requires retail food stores and wholesale food concerns seeking authorization or reauthorization to participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—which provides electronic benefit transfer food benefits to low-income households—beginning not later than 180 days after final regulations under section 7(h)(15)(B)(i) of the Food and Nutrition Act of 2008, to have a chip-enabled payment terminal (as defined in section 7(h)(15)(A)) at each retail location. (Thus, the requirement promotes secure electronic transactions and reduces SNAP fraud risk.)

This section directs the Secretary of Agriculture, not later than one year after enactment, to submit to specified congressional committees and make publicly available on the Department of Agriculture website a report on the security of electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards issued in Puerto Rico under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). The report must address (1) the resistance of those EBT cards to cloning and (2) if appropriate, recommendations for improving the electronic benefit transfer system against EBT card cloning-based fraud; it may include a non-public annex with classified or law enforcement-sensitive information.

This section strikes the requirements for the Secretary of Agriculture to issue guidance on and promulgate regulations requiring state agencies administering the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to implement security measures against theft of benefits through Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card skimming, cloning, and similar methods. It redesignates the remaining requirements in subsection (a)—to promulgate by December 1, 2023, regulations (including an interim final rule) for stolen benefit replacement procedures consistent with subsection (b); to coordinate with specified federal agencies, states, retailers, and EBT vendors on assessing theft methods, establishing prevention measures (including retailer equipment enhancements), and standardizing state data reporting; and to submit by December 1, 2024, a report to the agriculture committees detailing theft frequency and locations, coordination outcomes, a comparison of state plans, and prevention recommendations—and makes conforming changes to subsection (b) by removing cross-references to the struck provisions and streamlining state plan approval criteria for benefit reimbursements.