Uber Eats Will Start Accepting SNAP Benefits Soon—Here's What That Means for Families
This past Wednesday, Uber Eats announced that the popular food delivery company will now be accepting SNAP and healthcare benefits as a form of payment for grocery delivery orders. Beginning in 2024, anyone with a valid Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card will be able to use their funds, which are dispersed through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP or food stamps), to pay for their personal grocery deliveries.
Users who have FSA (flexible spending accounts) cards and flex cards that are issued through healthcare programs such as Medicaid’s Managed Care and Medicare Advantage plans will also be accepted by the app, effectively making food delivery much more accessible in our post-pandemic world. In addition to the newly accepted forms of payment, Uber also plans to incorporate a new AI assistant program within the app to help customers find better deals on their groceries.
Related: Toby Keith Treats Uber Driver to Private Performance in New Video
These quality-of-life changes come in response to Uber’s exponential growth since the pandemic, and their eventual pivot to food delivery during that time. The company reached nearly $11 billion in revenue in 2022, as compared to the more than $8.3 billion in revenue that was raked in throughout 2021 and the $3.9 billion in 2020.
“We know that online food delivery can have a meaningful impact in reducing barriers to fresh groceries, especially for the most vulnerable — including people living in food deserts, seniors and those facing disabilities or transportation barriers,” Therese Lim, senior director of product at Uber Eats said in a recent blog post.
Of course, Uber is not the first delivery app to accept food stamps. They are, however, certainly aiming to make the form of payment more accessible for its users as most delivery platform apps are not equipped to accept food stamps as a universal form of payment.
Both Instacart and Aldi joined forces on a pilot program in 2020 to increase access to same-day grocery delivery, which ultimately led to Instacart now accepting food stamps in all 50 states. Walmart accepts SNAP benefits in a handful of states when picking up an online order, and Kroger offers SNAP payment for curbside pickups and online orders in some locations. Even Amazon Prime lets users register their SNAP cards for online food purchases in most states.
Being that SNAP is the biggest food assistance program in the States, it is unfortunate how inaccessible the program can be for a lot of people. According to the Pew Research Center, on average, 41.2 million people in 21.6 million households received monthly SNAP benefits in the 2022 fiscal year. And while those numbers do sound high, the true number of people in need of assistance is unknown, as efforts made during the pandemic to make the program more accessible were eventually phased out.
Now that Uber has assumed the self-appointed role of the first company to accept healthcare benefit payments for grocery delivery, it's important to note that SNAP and healthcare benefits will not be able to be used to purchase takeout food from restaurants using Uber Eats. The app will, however, use a new feature called “Sales Aisle,” a so-called digital coupon book which will allow customers to find a curated list of promotions and sales in their regions. And as if the perks won't stop coming, the eventual launch of Uber’s AI chatbot is also on the horizon, making it “easy for consumers to meal plan, find sales on grocery items and quickly order ingredients for their favorite recipes while sticking to a budget.”
Up next: I’ve Been a Loyal Kroger Shopper for Years—These Are My Top Tips and Tricks
