EBT stands for Electronic Benefits Transfer, and in 2024, it’s how you get your SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) benefits.
There are over 42 million people that rely on help from SNAP, sometimes called food stamps, to keep themselves and their families fed, so naturally, questions of whether these benefits are viable come up.
Naturally, in a post-quarantine world, people may be wondering which food delivery services will take their EBT money as payment.
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What Payment Method Does DoorDash Accept?
DoorDash is one of the most popular methods for getting food delivered.
A network of drivers goes and picks things up to deliver them to houses, including fast-food restaurants.
That was previously unheard of; if you wanted to get restaurant food delivered, it had to be a place that already had delivery as an option.
Credit Cards
A card that allows one to purchase goods on credit.
At this point, your average person knows what one of these is and probably has one.
They’re favored for making purchases online because there’s a hard limit on most credit cards for how much you can spend, and most cards have rules for how much you’re on the hook for if your information gets stolen.
Debit Cards
Similar to credit cards in that they look very much the same and they are a method that allows you to input your information to a website to make a purchase, the main difference is that a debit card is a direct line to the sum of money in your bank account.
You aren’t buying on credit; you already have the money you’re spending.
Gift Cards
Like most other websites, DoorDash has gift cards.
Unfortunately, they won’t accept restaurant-branded gift cards, so if you want to use a gift card, it has to be specifically for DoorDash.
They won’t, for example, take a McDonald’s gift card because that would only give you McDonald’s food and not pay for your driver.
Cash
You can use good old-fashioned paper money in most places, and DoorDash is no exception.
Be aware that the driver has to opt-in for the cash-on-delivery option, and there is no penalty through the company for not doing so.
You should also keep in mind that the minimum order price is $7 if you want to pay cash.
Remember to have enough set aside to tip your driver!
Does DoorDash Accept EBT?
The short answer is no.
DoorDash accepts many different kinds of payments, but food stamps is not one of them.
Why Doesn’t DoorDash Accept EBT?
Most of the services available on DoorDash don’t accept SNAP EBT payment.
The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) has set up criteria for who is and is not allowed to accept food stamps.
The main criteria are that to be able to accept EBT benefits, at least half of the store’s gross income has to be from staple foods.
That means groceries, instead of prepared food, sometimes referred to as “hot food.”
Most of the locations DoorDash will go to are restaurants and cannot accept EBT.
You might be wondering, what about the places that can?
After all, you can get a DoorDasher to run to your local CVS, right?
Yes, but even if they do that and everything you have them pick up for you is EBT SNAP compliant, that still won’t pay your driver.
What Delivery Apps Do Accept EBT?
So all of that is well and good, but you still need to get a food delivery to your house and what you have available is an EBT card.
You’re in luck.
There are delivery services that will accept EBT SNAP.
Instacart
While your EBT card still can’t be used to pay for any delivery fees that might be involved, you can pay for your grocery store order this way on the food delivery app Instacart.
They do require another payment method to be on file for those delivery fees or if you purchase anything that your EBT card won’t cover.
Some still find this more workable than not being able to use it at all.
Amazon Fresh
Unless you live in Hawaii, Alaska, Louisiana, or Montana, you can use your SNAP benefits for grocery delivery on Amazon Fresh.
Of course, like Instacart, you still have to have another payment method on file for the delivery fees and anything you buy that isn’t EBT approved, but everything that is should be marked accordingly.
How to Pay on DoorDash
Of course, you may be wondering how to pay with other methods on DoorDash.
Step One – Go to Your Cart
Let’s assume you have already selected your food from the available menu.
In the upper right corner of the screen, you’ll see a red button with a shopping cart.
Click this button.
That should take you to an overlay on the right side of the website that shows your order.
Once you have confirmed that this order is correct, click the red button that reads ‘Checkout.’
Step Two – Fill in the Time You Desire Your Order
You can order standard, which will take a given amount of time and be at your door as soon as possible, or you can put in your order for later.
This works similarly to how ordering a pizza does, but you have to choose one to place your order.
Step Three – Fill in Your Address and Phone Number
Knowing where to bring your food is a requirement if you want someone to deliver something to you.
Let them know how to find you and get in contact with you if anything goes wrong.
Step Four – Enter Your Payment Information
Do not click ‘Send as Gift.’
That is not the option for gift cards.
For those using credit, debit, PayPal, or Venmo, the next option is “Payment.”
If you have never ordered on Doordash before, it will prompt you to enter information.
If you have, you can change that information by clicking the red words “change/add” underneath.
If you intend to use a gift card, this goes a little bit differently.
Back on the main page, where it lists all of the restaurants, on the upper bar on the left, there are three lines.
Click them, and the eighth option down will say “Gift Card.”
This is where you enter your gift card information.
DoorDash will add your gift card total as a credit to your order.
For a cash order, if Cash-on-Delivery is not listed as an option along with Paypal and various cards, they might not be accepting cash right now.
For example, they stopped doing so during quarantine for sanitation reasons, and drivers are allowed to turn down orders that are put in as cash on-demand with no penalty.
Step Five – Check Your Tip Total and Place Order
Your order total should include the cost of your food, plus any fees and a suggested tip.
But, if you want to tip more or less, there are buttons, or you can hit ‘other’ for a custom amount.
Once you’ve done this, there’s a big red button that says ‘Place Order’ at the top of the right-hand side of the window.
That should do it!
Outro
While DoorDash does not accept EBT SNAP as payment, they do have plenty of other options– like a credit or debit card– for customers to fund their order.
If you are an EBT cardholder, you can still benefit from grocery store delivery through services like InstaCart and Amazon Fresh.
Otherwise, you’re better off placing an online order for pickup.
