Electronic Funds Transfer Association Names Michigan's Women, Infants and Children EBT program "Project of the Year"

The State of Michigan’s program for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) benefits has been recognized as the “Project of the Year” by the Electronic Funds Transfer Association and its eGovernment Payments Council.

The Michigan WIC EBT project which enables participating families to make WIC purchases through electronic benefit transfer (EBT) using the Michigan “Bridge Card," is supported by Affiliated Computer Services.  The card offers improved flexibility and security over traditional WIC paper coupons. The program is the first of its kind to provide statewide real-time online access that automatically validates WIC-approved items, reducing the chances of error at the checkout lane.

Nearly 2,000 vendors across the state are equipped to accept the card. An ACS customer care center located in Michigan provides 24/7 support in three languages (English, Spanish and Arabic) for program participants as well as vendors.

The program was named Project of the Year” by the EFTA and its eGPC for its groundbreaking status as the first statewide online WIC EBT project in the nation, said Kurt Helwig, president and CEO of the EFTA. Michigan’s WIC program director Stan Bein accepted the award at the organization’s convention in New Orleans.

“ACS is honored to be part of a program that has become a national model of how WIC benefits are distributed and administered,” said Joseph Doherty, executive vice president and group president of ACS Government Solutions. “We are eager to show other states how this solution benefits both government and program recipients.”

ACS also provides Michigan with EBT services for the state’s SNAP program (formerly known as food stamps), providing convenient access to benefits to more than 700,000 residents.

The Electronic Funds Transfer Association is the nation's leading inter-industry professional group promoting the adoption of electronic payment systems like EBT. The eGovernment Payments Council is a group within EFTA that provides thought leadership on the business and policy issues involved in the development and operation of EBT systems.

Kurt Helwig, president and CEO of the Electronic Funds Transfer Association and its eGovernment Payments Council present's Michigan's Stan Bien with the eGPC's 2009 Project of the Year award at its annual conference, EBT The Next Generation, in New Orleans.

                                         

EBT Next Generation 2009--An Unqualified Success!

Having returned from EBT the Next Generation in New Orleans, I'm still riding high from all of the fun and excitement! How good to see everyone again and get together. I doubt many conferences have the same percentage of repeat attenders that we have.

The sessions were terrific. Top notch programming, especially on the WIC side. As usual they were timely, including Front Page Focus' take on the effect of the economy on human services operations, and the general session on eHealthcare and EBT.





Who will ever forget our trip to Rock 'N' Bowl where we rolled a 300--albeit every one's pins added together for all night! Dude, that was some bad bowling!

No matter the scores, there was plenty of food, spirits and networking, and I'll remember that as fondly as I remember our trip to the Dog Track in Jacksonville in 2004.


I'd be remiss if I didn't thank our sponsors, exhibitors and vendors for their financial support of the conference: ACS, FIS, J.P. Morgan, Maximus, Chaddsford Planning Associates, fiserv, Novo Dia Group, VeriFone, Bank of America, Oberthur, Visa, Mastercard, Visa and Burger, Carroll & Associates.








And how about our 2009 Award winners:

• Michigan WIC for its online EBT system statewide rollout
• Peter Relich, 20-year veteran of the eGovernment Payments Council, the Pioneer award winner--so richly deserved
• Ellen Vollinger of the Food Research and Action Center, our special achievement award for all of her assistance in spreading the good news about EBT to the nutrition and legislative communities

We're already looking ahead to next year in the Valley of the Sun, when we take the EBT The Next Generation traveling training show to Phoenix. NextGen13 is bound to be another success story for the ages.


Stan Bien, Michigan WIC Director, Ellen Vollinger, legal director of FRAC, and Peter Relich, SVP of MAXIMUS, show off their new hardware at EBT The Next Generation 2009.

WIC EBT: Online v. Offline

As usual when technology brings advantages to existing processes, there are competing ideas on the best way to implement this technology. In some cases, one direction eventually supersedes the other, think VHS vs. Beta. In other cases, multiple options co-exist, think Microsoft vs. Apple.



Today there are advantages to implementing electronic benefits over paper vouchers for WIC. And there is debate in the WIC community over card technologies: Offline vs. Online. Offline utilizes a smart card, a plastic card with an embedded microchip. These cards store all the information for the participant to obtain benefits and redeem at retailers with POS devices capable of reading the chip.



On the other hand, online utilizes a magnetic stripe card similar to a traditional credit or debit card. These cards access an online database where the participant’s benefits are redeemed through either the retailers existing cash register system or a dedicated terminal.



Both Online and Offline implementations are in operation today. WIC agencies have the opportunity to assess both technologies to decide which is best for their environment. Below are 7 considerations to take into account when evaluating online v. offline technology:

1. 
   The use of online or offline technology within a State for WIC EBT should be a rational business decision by the State that takes into account the State’s requirements, technology direction, stakeholder input, and a cost/benefit analysis.


2. FNS does not endorse or require a State to use either online or offline technology. Specifically, FNS has chosen to stay technology neutral and let states decide which technology to use. FNS’ only requirement is that once fully implemented, WIC EBT must by payable through the State’s administrative (NSA) grant (e.g., self-sustaining), and not require additional FNS funding for operations.


3. Michigan WIC EBT project is no longer a pilot, but is statewide; and has been shown to be cost-effective and sustainable. Consequently there are both online and offline projects that have demonstrated cost-effectiveness and sustainability.


4. Standards have been developed under the auspices of Accredited Standards Committee X9 for both online and offline WIC EBT. All of the existing WIC EBT projects are following these standards.


5. Interoperability, meaning that a WIC EBT card issued by one State can be used at a retailer in another State, does not exist for the WIC program. This is because States contract directly with retailers to provide WIC benefits, which is unlike the SNAP (Food Stamp) program where FNS authorizes retailers to accept SNAP benefits.


6. There are substantial costs in implementing either an online or offline WIC EBT project. The Texas WIC EBT project subsidized software development to support WIC EBT for a number of the retailer front-ends, and paid per lane subsidy for smart card readers for WIC authorized retailers integrating WIC EBT into their existing front-ends. Because of the efforts of Texas WIC, the major POS manufacturers now support offline WIC EBT. The same scenario is being played out for online WIC EBT, where Michigan and Kentucky are providing the leadership and direction in supporting the building of a POS infrastructure for online transactions. Future states implementing WIC EBT will be able to leverage the work done by these pioneer states.


7. However most retailers chose to utilize a third party processor (TPP) to acquire and route all of their electronic transactions (e.g., credit, debit, SNAP). There is a benefit to these retailers to utilize a TPP and only deal with one settlement and one reconciliation file. It is thought that retailers will chose to route WIC EBT transaction the same as they do SNAP transactions. But this is a business decision, not a requirement. Retailers can chose to route directly to the EBT processor and not pay any fees.
   

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For a further presentation of online and offline WIC EBT issues, be sure to attend Breakout Session 3: Under the Hood-a Side-by-Side Comparison of WIC EBT Programs Currently Operating, November 9, 3:45 p.m. at the EBT The Next Generation conference in New Orleans. For more information or to register, click here.