Tech that matters: EBT cards increase SNAP participation

A new national study from the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business finds the transition from paper food stamps to electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards modestly increased participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), with notable effects two years after states fully rolled out the EBT program.

Miguel Gomez and Harry Kaiser, professors at the Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, and co-authors, found that SNAP participation rose by 1.6 percentage points after states adopted EBT systems, much less than earlier estimates of around 12%.

"The Impact of Electronic Benefit Transfer on Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program" published March 24, 2026, in Agricultural Economics and included an analysis of data collected over 15 years in the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID), a survey of American households conducted since 1968.

Co-authors include Pei Zhou, postdoctoral associate at the Dyson School, Yuqing Zheng, professor at University of Kentucky, Lingxiao Wang, postdoctoral research associate at Texas A&M University and Diansheng Dong, economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.

"Our study is the first to combine monthly state-level EBT rollout information with monthly household SNAP participation data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics," said Gomez.

Kaiser said the longitudinal data from the PSID provided a much clearer picture of the trend. "That granularity allowed our research team to track both the immediate and longer-term effects of EBT adoption on diverse types of households."

The shift from paper vouchers to debit-style cards did not affect all groups equally. Participation rose most among younger adults: Those under 25 were 9.5 percentage points more likely to enroll in SNAP after EBT expansion than their older counterparts. Minority households, particularly African American and Asian American/Pacific Islander households, experienced sizable gains, while white households showed no significant change.

Read the full story on the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business website.

Sarah Magnus-Sharpe is director of public relations and communications at the SC Johnson College of Business.