California Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Project
About EBT
- EBT is the automation of government benefit delivery through the use of on-line electronic funds transfer technology (i.e. magnetic stripe debit cards).
- EBT is already in place in 43 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
- In California all Food Stamp Program benefits will be delivered via EBT.
- 37 Counties will use EBT for cash benefits: CalWORKs (TANF) and/or General Assistance (GA/GR).
California Timeline
- Pilot Implementation in Alameda County and Yolo County: July 2002
- State Rollout November 2002-April 2004
California EBT Partners
- California Health and Human Services Data Center (HHSDC) is the Project Manager.
- California Department of Social Services (CDSS) is the Project Sponsor.
- Citicorp Electronic Financial Services is the issuing financial institution. They will provide all services and information necessary for acquiring financial institutions to participate. Citicorp EFS is under contract to HHSDC, the project manager.
CalWORKs Participants
Statistics for the three-year period from January 1998 to December 2000 reveal that:
- 21% of aided adults received CalWORKs for 12 months or less before transitioning off of assistance.
- 70% transition into employment within 36 months, of these, over 80% have remained off aid (and presumably maintained their employment) after 12 months have elapsed.
- The average age of an adult CalWORKs participant is 34 years.
- 42% of the adults have more than 12 years of education.
- 36% of the adults are Hispanic, 30% are Caucasian, 19% are African-American, 14% are Asian, and 1% are Native American.
Banking and Direct Deposit
- A very rough estimate is that 25-30% of CalWORKs participants currently have banking relationships.
- California law mandates that those counties offering payroll direct deposit to employees must offer the same option to cash benefit recipients. In San Diego County, approximately 20% of CalWORKs clients utilize direct deposit.
Transaction Volume
- Average monthly CalWORKs projected caseload: ~488,000
- Average monthly GA projected caseload: ~75,000
- Average projected monthly CalWORKs grant FY 2001/02: $531.38
- Approximately $3.3 billion will be distributed to CalWORKs recipients in FY 2001/02.
- Estimated 2.3 cash withdrawal transactions per case per month, based upon cash transactions in other states currently operating an EBT system: ~1.1 million transactions per month.
- CEFS will pay STAR on-premises interchange fee for each cash withdrawal transaction. CEFS will also pay standard interchange for denied transactions and balance inquiry transactions.
Benefits of Participation
- Counties will choose to use EBT or not based partially on whether there is “reasonable access.” The better the access, the more likely counties will participate.
- Counties using EBT will no longer issue monthly warrants, thus reducing teller lines at branch offices.
- Ability to reach and establish brand loyalty with future customers that may be seeking a banking relationship as they move off aid.
- Card usage will increase at ATMs and the bank will receive $0.45 interchange fee for each cash withdrawal.
- Recognition of your bank’s support of the EBT program by state and local government agencies.
- Positive publicity for waiving surcharges for this group of Californians may reduce negative public perception about surcharges in general.
- Supporting the EBT program in underdeveloped urban communities will be positively viewed under the Community Reinvestment Act services test. (Federal Register #54647, FFIEC Interagency Q&A, October 21, 1996).
Citicorp Contact for EBT Participation
Mr. Curtis Fish
Citicorp EFS
155 Cadillac Drive
Sacramento, CA 95825
cfisheft@aol.com
916-567-5003 or
407-862-9272
California Counties using EBT for Cash Benefit Delivery
A total of 36 counties have decided to use the EBT card for cash benefits, either CalWORKS, GA/GR, or both. Los Angeles County’s decision is pending approval of the Board of Supervisors.
| County | CalWorks | GA/GR | CalWORKs Cases |
GA/GR Cases |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Alameda | X | X | 25,440 | 4,167 |
| 2. | Butte | X | 5,420 | ||
| 3. | Calaveras | X | 607 | ||
| 4. | Contra Costa | X | X | 11,744 | 942 |
| 5. | Del Norte | X | 903 | ||
| 6. | Imperial | X | 5,016 | ||
| 7. | Kern | X | 19,083 | ||
| 8. | Lassen | X | 687 | ||
| 9. | Los Angeles | ? | ? | 234,000 | 60,391 |
| 10. | Marin | X | X | 1,015 | 212 |
| 11. | Mariposa | X | 252 | ||
| 12. | Mendocino | X | 1,993 | ||
| 13. | Merced | X | 7,243 | ||
| 14. | Monterey | X | 5,550 | ||
| 15. | Napa | X | 735 | ||
| 16. | Nevada | X | 695 | ||
| 17. | Orange | X | X | 23,170 | 632 |
| 18. | Placer | X | X | 1,747 | 377 |
| 19. | Riverside | X | 25,227 | ||
| 20. | Sacramento | X | X | 36,345 | 5,034 |
| 21 | San Benito | X | 590 | ||
| 22.. | San Luis Obispo | X | 2,203 | ||
| 23. | San Mateo | X | 2,641 | ||
| 24. | Santa Barbara | X | X | 4,309 | 503 |
| 25. | Santa Clara | X | X | 15,393 | 1,889 |
| 26. | Santa Cruz | X | 2,329 | ||
| 27.. | Shasta | X | 4,674 | ||
| 28. | Siskiyou | X | 1,057 | ||
| 29. | Solano | X | X | 6,492 | 252 |
| 30. | Sonoma | X | 3,558 | ||
| 31. | Stanislaus | X | 10,567 | ||
| 32. | Sutter | X | 1,464 | ||
| 33. | Tulare | X | 13,025 | ||
| 34. | Tuolumne | X | 900 | ||
| 35. | Ventura | X | 6,631 | ||
| 36. | Yolo | X | 2,932 | ||
| 37. | Yuba | X | 2,334 | ||
| TOTAL | 487,971 | 74,399 |
These 19 counties have opted not to use the EBT card for cash benefits at this time:
Alpine, Amador, Colusa, El Dorado, Fresno, Glenn, Humbolt, Inyo, Kings, Lake, Madera, Modoc, Mono, Plumas, San Francisco, San Joaquin, Sierra, Tehama, and Trinity
These two counties are currently running a separate EBT system for Food Stamp benefits, and do not issue cash benefits via EBT. They will join the statewide program at a later date.
San Bernardino, San Diego