Planned Outage, Other Changes Coming to Maryland EBT Services
MARYLAND – The Maryland Department of Human Services has announced a planned outage for Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) services across the state from midnight until noon on Sunday, May 17.
The Department says the outage is part of the transfer to a new EBT card vendor, Fidelity Information Services. As part of this transition, online access will move from the ConnectEBT site to a new platform called ebtEdge. Additionally, new cards using chip technology will be sent out this summer.
Important changes and dates that EBT users should look out for are as follows:
- You will not be able to use your card to buy food or withdraw cash at stores or ATMs from:
- 12:00 a.m. (midnight) on Sunday, May 17, until 12:00 p.m. (noon) on Sunday, May 17
- You will not be able to change your PIN or lock your card from:
- 11:00 p.m. on Friday, May 15, until 12:00 p.m. (noon) on Sunday, May 17
- The last day to use the ConnectEBT site or app to manage your benefits is Saturday, May 16
- If you typically receive your benefits on the 17th of the month (last names beginning with NEG- PGZ), your benefits may be delayed by a few hours.
- Beginning Monday, May 18, manage your benefits by registering for a new account on ebtEdge.
- Beginning in July, Maryland will begin mailing new EBT cards to cardholders.
Officials say EBT users should plan ahead of the outage on May 17 and grocery shop in advance. Additionally, users do not need to do anything with current EBT cards. Cards will be functional again once the updates are complete.
For more details on changes coming to EBT services, click here.
