- Department of Transitional Assistance
After more than a decade working with their current Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) vendor, Conduent, the Department of Transitional Assistance (DTA) has signed a contract with Fidelity Information Services (FIS) to be Massachusetts’ new EBT vendor.
DTA will transition its EBT system to FIS in late April 2025.
During the official systems transition, there will be a brief period of time when DTA clients will not be able to use their EBT cards to access their benefits for food and cash purchases or for cash withdrawals. DTA anticipates that this period of downtime will begin during the late hours of Saturday, April 26, and end the afternoon of Sunday, April 27, 2025. More specific information about the downtime period will be available closer to the conversion weekend on DTA’s website (Mass.gov/DTA). This conversion only impacts Massachusetts EBT cardholders.
DTA will notify clients via mailed notice, text message, and email with details about the outage. DTA will also share regular updates on the conversion process, including updates about when the system goes offline and when clients can use their EBT cards again, on its webpage and social media pages (including X/Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram).
After the outage, clients' EBT cards will work normally. Cliends to not need to take any action.
“DTA recognizes the impact and inconvenience clients will face during the brief outage window, but we believe it is worth it in order to make this transition to the new EBT vendor,” DTA Commissioner Jeff McCue said. “We are confident the conversion to FIS will provide our clients with consistent service and enhancements the Department is eager to pursue in the future.”
After the transition to FIS, clients will still be able to utilize DTA Connect to view or update their case. The phone number on the back of clients’ EBT cards (used to call for information and for questions about EBT cards) will remain the same.
As part of the vendor change, DTA has created an updated and easy to read brochure that explains how to use an EBT card, what items and locations are prohibited from purchases, and more.
Under FIS, cash assistance clients will receive four free ATM transactions per month. This is an increase from the current contract which only offers three free ATM transactions per month.
More information on how to use an EBT card can be found here.
