Amazon and Walmart are testing a program to accept food stamps online
(Vox) Grocery shopping online has long been out of reach for SNAP recipients. A new government program aims to change that.
Public advocates have long argued that shopping innovations like e-commerce and cashless stores marginalize low-income shoppers. In order to shop online, customers need credit cards and bank accounts, and per the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, 6.5 percent of households in the US weren’t affiliated with a bank in 2017.
Now Amazon and Walmart are piloting a two-year program that will allow low-income shoppers to pay for groceries online using food stamps.
On Thursday, the US Department of Agriculture announced it had teamed up with Amazon and Walmart to allow participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, a.k.a. food stamps) to buy groceries on these sites using their government-allotted benefits.
“People who receive SNAP benefits should have the opportunity to shop for food the same way more and more Americans shop for food — by ordering and paying for groceries online,” Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said in a statement. “As technology advances, it is important for SNAP to advance too, so we can ensure the same shopping options are available for both non-SNAP and SNAP recipients.”
read more:
https://www.vox.com/the-goods/2019/4/19/18507813/amazon-walmart-snap-usda-pilot-food-stamps
= new reply since forum marked as read
