LANSING, MI (WTVB) – Michigan is rolling out chip-enabled SNAP cards to crack down on benefit theft and could become the first state in the Midwest to complete the upgrade.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services mailed about 1,000 households the new cards in a June pilot program. More than 699,000 households are set to receive theirs from mid-August through September 2026.
The upgrade swaps out the old magnetic strip — which criminals can easily clone using fake point-of-sale devices planted at gas stations, liquor stores, and grocery stores — for a chip offering stronger security. Private banks made the same switch back in 2015.
Michigan’s reported SNAP fraud dropped from about $14 million in 2024 to $7.7 million in 2025, and the state is hoping chip cards push that number down further.
Michigan joins Alabama, California, Oklahoma, Massachusetts, Maryland, and New Jersey in making the switch, with Arkansas, Oregon, Virginia, and New York also in progress, per USDA.
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