EBT cardholders take advantage of glitch

For a few hours on Saturday evening, Oct. 12, 2013, Wal-Mart Stores Inc. locations in Louisiana became ground zero for food snap recipients without spending limits on their government-issued electronic benefit transfer (EBT) cards. A reported power outage at Xerox Corp., which processes EBT card transactions, caused the glitch, resulting in spending limits on the cards being disabled and EBT users taking advantage.

Apparently, news spread quickly that the limits had been disabled, which prompted a flood of EBT cardholders to Wal-Mart locations in two small towns in Louisiana, Springhill and Mansfield. The shoppers reportedly cleared the shelves of merchandise. Wal-Mart representatives allowed cardholders to continue to make purchases, despite the lack of spending limits.

Xerox told media outlets that the power outage occurred when it was conducting routine testing of backup generators. The EBT card programs of 16 other states were also reportedly affected by the outage. Now at issue is whether Wal-Mart or Xerox are responsible for the EBT charges rung up by shoppers unencumbered by spending limits. The companies are reportedly at odds over who will bear the cost of the excessive charges.

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