EBT Account Adjustments - Processing
EBT transaction system errors are processed by the Fidelity Information Services (FIS) EBT Adjustment Research Department (ARD). FIS must respond to an adjustment request within 15
calendar days(g) of the receipt of a request.
When an EBT adjustment request is received, the ARD completes the following:
●Contacts the third-party processor (TPP) or financial institution that provided the groceries or cash and obtains proof of the transaction.
●Validates whether a system error occurred.
●Credits the participant’s EBT account when the system error is confirmed.
●Sends an email to
FAA EBT Support when a participant’s request for a credit adjustment has been denied.
On the day FAA EBT Support learns of a credit denial but no later than the following workday, FAA EBT Support sends the EBT Account Adjustment Credit notice (A087/F034). The notice informs the participant of the following:
●The request for an EBT account credit has been denied and the program.
●The name and address of the retailer where the transaction occurred.
●The date the transaction occurred.
●The credit amount requested by the participant.
●The PI or representative’s right to file an
Appeal within 15 calendar days of the date of the notice.
Each workday the FAA EBT Support retrieves EBT account adjustment reports from the FIS portal. The EB 220-1 lists all EBT account adjustments that have been credited or debited. The EB 230-1 lists retailer-initiated requests for a debit to a participant’s EBT account.
On the day, the EB 230-1 report is retrieved but no later than the following workday, FAA EBT Support sends the EBT Account Adjustment Debit notice (A086/F031). The notice informs the PI of the following:
●A system error occurred, the program and that the EBT account will be debited.
●The name and address of the retailer where the transaction occurred.
●The date the transaction occurred.
●The amount of the transaction to be debited.
●The PI or representative’s right to file an appeal within 15 calendars days from the date of the notice.
When an appeal is requested within 15 calendar days from the date of the notice, the Appeals Processing Unit (APU) notifies FAA EBT Support via email.
FAA EBT Support in turn notifies FIS. FIS then places a hold on the debit pending the hearing decision.
NOTE When FIS is notified of the appeal and has already debited the account, FIS will credit the amount back to the account pending the hearing decision.
When a participant does not request an appeal within the 15 calendar days or a hearing decision affirms a retailer’s debit request, FIS attempts to debit the system error amount. When insufficient benefits are remaining to cover the full amount, the debit adjustment is attempted to the household’s next future month’s benefits. No further action is taken when there are insufficient funds to debit an EBT account by the end of that next month.
NOTE The adjustment amounts are equal to the amount of the original error transaction.