Get Help With EBT Payments

• EBT is not working - how do I fix a declined payment?
• Why did an EBT payment decline?
• An error occurred during EBT processing, how do I fix it?

If you see an error message when processing an EBT payment, you can follow these steps to troubleshoot:

• Confirm your device is connected to the internet. A poor connection can cause payment processing problems. Learn more: Verify Your Internet Connection.
• Help your guest check their EBT balance. Insufficient funds could cause an EBT payment to decline. To check an EBT balance from the POS:
  • Select EBT from your menus, and then select Check Balance.
  • Swipe or enter the EBT card number on the EBT balance inquiry window.
  • The guest will need to enter their EBT pin - if you're not using a Guest-Facing Display, you'll need to flip your terminal screen to face your guest.
  • A pop-up window will appear on the page to show the guest their EBT SNAP or EBT Cash balance.
• Ensure there are no tax-inclusive items on the check. Tax-inclusive pricing means that the sales tax for an item is already factored into the item's price, instead of appearing as a separate line on the check. EBT payments will not process if tax-inclusive items are on the check. Learn more: .
• Make sure the guest doesn't swipe their EBT card before the cashier presses the EBT button. If your guest swipes their card too early, the PIN entry screen will not show.
• Confirm that the item(s) the guest is purchasing are set as EBT-eligible in Toast Web. You can check EBT eligibility on the item details page in Toast Retail or a menu editor. Learn more: .
  • Some benefit programs have additional eligibility requirements that need to be considered. For example, in some states, prepared meal programs are only available for a specific subset of benefit-holders. If your guest is trying to pay for a prepared meal with their benefits card but doesn't qualify, the payment could be declined.
• Debug your network connection. If you are experiencing trouble with EBT payments, try pressing the Test Connection button. This button uses a test EBT card to make sure your location's network is set up correctly to process EBT payments.
  
   
  
  
  • If you get a message to contact Toast support, and you have a self-managed network, first make sure that you have the following IP addresses whitelisted, then try again:
    • TCP vault.joinforage.app 443
    • TCP api.joinforage.app 443
  • See the full list of network addresses to whitelist in the article.
    
     

Note: If the EBT payment button is grayed out on your POS terminal, that means there aren't any EBT-eligible items that have been added to the check.