A store cannot simply switch on EBT at the register. SNAP benefits are federal, and a retailer must be authorized by the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service before any POS will run a SNAP card. The POS decision comes second, and it turns on three things: whether the system knows which items are SNAP-eligible, what it does with a mixed basket, and whether it also takes EBT Cash. This page reads the federal rule and each vendor's documentation, all on October 27, 2026. We have not tested either system.
For whom: a small grocery, convenience store, market or specialty food shop that wants to accept SNAP. Not for: restaurants and other businesses selling mostly hot or prepared food, which the rule below generally excludes.
Step one: SNAP authorization
Under 7 CFR 278.1, FNS approves or denies a completed application within 45 days. A store qualifies in one of two ways, and the stocking test is changing this year: USDA's final rule of May 8, 2026 (effective July 7) requires retailers to implement the higher stocking standard by November 4, 2026. That standard, set by the 2014 Farm Bill and codified in 2016, had not been enforced because appropriations language blocked it.
| Test | What the store must show |
|---|---|
| Criterion A (stock) | Until the November 4, 2026 implementation date, the enforced standard is three varieties in each of the four staple food categories, with perishables in at least two; from that date, at least seven varieties in each category, three stocking units of each, and perishables in at least three categories |
| Criterion B (sales) | More than half of total gross retail sales in staple foods |
Businesses with more than half of their sales in food cooked or heated on site do not qualify as retail food stores. Once authorized, you receive the FNS number every POS asks for.
Step two: the POS
| Square | Clover | |
|---|---|---|
| Devices | Square Register, Square Terminal, Square Handheld (not Square Stand or other iOS devices) | Clover Mini, Mobile, Flex, Compact, Station Solo, Station Duo |
| How it is switched on | Enter your FNS number; mark items SNAP-eligible in the Dashboard | Clover enables EBT for your account; not a self-service setting |
| Mixed basket | Applies EBT to the eligible items automatically, then collects the rest by card or cash | Customer chooses EBT SNAP/Food or EBT Cash; Clover checks the card balance first, authorizes up to the available amount and starts a workflow to collect the remainder with another tender (ordinary EBT partial authorizations are declined). This is a balance-based split, not Square's split by eligible items |
| EBT Cash (TANF) | Not supported | Supported: the customer chooses EBT Cash on the device |
| Offline | Not supported | Not supported |
| EBT fee | 1.8% plus 5 cents per transaction (custom rates may differ) | Not published in the documentation we read |
Our pick
Square, for a small grocery or convenience store. It handles the part that slows a SNAP checkout, the mixed basket, by splitting eligible items automatically, and it is the only one of the two whose documentation publishes the EBT fee. You can set it up yourself once you have the FNS number.
- Pick Clover instead if your customers use EBT Cash benefits, which Square does not accept, or if you already process through a Clover partner.
- Who should plan ahead: a store that meets today's stocking test but not the one in force from November 4, 2026. Fix the stocking or the sales mix first; no POS changes the authorization test.
Neither system runs EBT offline, so a store with unreliable internet should plan a backup connection before relying on SNAP sales. For the rest of a small-store setup, see POS for convenience stores.
If the same store sells produce or deli items by weight, the scale has its own approval rules: see POS with a scale that is legal for trade. For the store type as a whole, see POS for convenience stores.
Traceable evidence
Sources for this decision
- regulator7 CFR 278.1, approval of retail food stores and wholesale food concerns (1-1-25 edition)U.S. Government Publishing Office · checked Oct 27, 2026 · supports: 7 CFR 278.1 (1-1-25 edition): FNS approves or denies a retail food store application within 45 days of a completed application, a store qualifies by offering on a continuous basis at least seven varieties in each of four staple food categories with three stocking units each and perishables in at least three categories (Criterion A) or by having more than 50 percent of total gross retail sales in staple foods (Criterion B), and firms with more than 50 percent of sales in foods cooked or heated on site are not eligible as retail food stores; it does not evaluate any POS.Open source ↗
- regulatorUSDA FNS final rule, Updated Staple Food Stocking Standards for Retailers in SNAP (91 FR 25082, May 8, 2026)U.S. Government Publishing Office · checked Oct 27, 2026 · supports: USDA FNS final rule published May 8, 2026 (91 FR 25082), effective July 7, 2026 with implementation required by November 4, 2026: retailers must meet the 2014 Farm Bill stocking standard of seven staple food varieties in each of four categories (up from three) and perishables in three categories (up from two), codified in 2016 but not enforced because of appropriations language, with a new framework defining distinct varieties; it does not evaluate any POS.Open source ↗
- vendorSquare official product siteSquare · checked Aug 5, 2026 · supports: Vendor-published product scope used to verify capabilities relevant to this buyer context: Small merchants evaluating an integrated POS, payment, hardware, and business-software ecosystem. It does not prove the guide's fit verdict, configured performance, current pricing or compliance.Open source ↗
- vendorClover official product siteClover · checked Aug 5, 2026 · supports: Vendor-published product scope used to verify capabilities relevant to this buyer context: Small businesses evaluating a hardware-led POS distributed through merchant-service channels. It does not prove the guide's fit verdict, configured performance, current pricing or compliance.Open source ↗
- vendorSquare help, accept EBT SNAP paymentsSquare · checked Oct 27, 2026 · supports: Square help article stating that EBT SNAP payments are accepted on Square Register, Square Terminal and Square Handheld (not Square Stand or other iOS devices), that an active USDA FNS number is required, that items must be marked SNAP eligible, that EBT cannot run offline, that EBT Cash (TANF) is not supported, that Square separates eligible items and applies EBT to that portion, that refunds go back to the same card and that the EBT processing fee is 1.8 percent plus 5 cents per transaction; it does not decide FNS eligibility.Open source ↗
- vendorClover developer documentation, Clover support for EBTClover · checked Oct 27, 2026 · supports: Clover developer documentation stating that EBT is supported on Clover Mini, Mobile, Flex, Compact, Station Solo and Station Duo, that customers choose EBT SNAP/Food or EBT Cash, that the merchant needs a valid FNS number and that EBT must be enabled by Clover (not self-service), that partial authorizations cannot be performed on EBT but Clover checks the balance first, authorizes up to the available amount and triggers a workflow for the remainder to be paid with another tender, and that offline EBT is not supported; it does not state fees.Open source ↗