by Patrick Yap 0 comments

EBT stands for Electronic Benefit Transfer is an electronic system in the United States that allows state governments to provide financial and material benefits to authorized recipients via a plastic debit card. Common benefits provided via EBT are typically sorted into two general categories: Food Stamp and Cash benefits. Food stamp benefits are federally authorized benefits that can be used only to purchase food and non-alcoholic beverages. Cash benefits include State General Assistance, TANF (Temporary Aid for Needy Families) benefits and refugee benefits. ebtaccount.jpmorgan.com is the EBT program managed by JPMorgan.

EBT is used in all 50 States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Guam. EBT has been implemented in all States since June of 2004.

www.ebtaccount.jpmorgan.com is where you can login to your EBT Account information such as:

Check your balance
Review transaction history
Change your PIN
Contact Customer Service

ebtaccount.jpmorgan.com also provides a simple 6 steps guide on how to register for an account.  The website is overall friendly and easy to access.  Besides, there is a Spanish version as well.

As relief administrators continue to try to lower operational costs by shifting away from paper coupons in favor of electronic payment, analysts say the market for processing benefits transactions will probably have long-term growth.

The vast majority (over 99%) of all EBT-related customer service calls are handled electronically in the U.S. through an interactive voice response system. This system gives quick, timely and accurate responses to questions (e.g., balance and transaction inquiries) from EBT users and retailers. The system transfers most callers who ask for a live-operator to India (Pune or Bangalore). Spanish-speaking customers are connected to the customer service center in Mexico (Tijuana).

In August 2005, JP Morgan and its subcontractors received over 769,300 EBT-related calls for Washington State. Less than one percent (6,471) of all customer service calls were transferred to India and Mexico. Washington has received no complaints from customers who received services through the offshore call centers.

JP Morgan trains customer service representatives in India and Mexico on the rules for benefit programs in EBT states. Washington’s contract with JP Morgan spells out customer service performance expectations, including response time and accuracy. JP Morgan in turn agrees to service performance levels for their subcontractors operating offshore call centers, such as MsourcE and Convergys. JP Morgan monitors the centers to be sure they meet performance expectations.

Under the terms of the EBT contract, JP Morgan and its subcontractors are bound by the same state and federal laws about using and safeguarding confidential information as is the Department of Social and Health Services.
During the current 7-year EBT contract, Washington has the option to transfer offshore services to JP Morgan’s call center based in Jacksonville, Florida for an additional fee of 35 cents per case, per month. Based on this cost per case and projected yearly caseload growth, Washington’s annual EBT administrative costs would increase by more than $2 million annually under this option.

Also, JPMorgan did not configure EBTAccount.JPMorgan.com correctly as a shortcut url address and you need to add in www.ebtaccount.jpmorgan.com with the www in front since our last check.