Forage becomes SNAP EBT payment processor for Uber Eats with food delivery firm launching feature in 2024

Forage, a San Francisco-based PayTech firm, has announced a partnership with Uber Eats to enable payment processing of SNAP EBT, when the delivery platform launches the product in late 2024. 

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programme (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Programme, is a US federal government initiative that provides food purchasing assistance for low- and no-income people to help them maintain adequate nutrition and health.

Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) is an electronic system that allows a participant to pay for food using SNAP benefits.

“We believe healthy foods should be accessible to all,” says Karl Hebert, Vice President of Payments, Risk, and Identity at Uber.

“We are excited to partner with Forage to provide our customers the same seamless payments experience they've become accustomed to on Uber when using their SNAP benefits.”

Earlier this year, Forage enabled the USA’s first online only retailer to accept SNAP EBT.

It also lays claim to being the only dedicated EBT payments company offering best in-class software alongside a dedicated team of in-house experts to guide platforms and retailers through the USDA authorisation process.

More than 17 million Americans live in food deserts with limited access to nearby grocery stores, but over 90% of those people have access to digital food delivery services such as Uber.

In 2021, Uber Eats enabled the delivery of 226 million orders to these communities across the country. 

“We’re incredibly excited to partner with Uber Eats to bring online purchasing and delivery to more SNAP recipients,” says Forage Co-founder and CEO, Ofek Lavian.

“We know that accepting SNAP benefits online is incredibly important for millions of Americans and are extremely proud that through our partnership, Uber will be able to unlock EBT acceptance for all retailers on their platform and help more Americans put food on their table.”