EBT Cash Aid card being declined at ATM but works for purchases - anyone else?
Been getting my CalWORKs money on my EBT card for almost 8 months with no issues until today. Tried to pull out $300 from my cash benefits at the ATM this morning and it kept saying "DENIED BY FINANCIAL INSTITUTION" which makes no sense cause I know I have almost $1,200 on there! The weird part is I was able to use the CASH side (not the food side) to pay for gas right after. Anyone else having this problem with their EBT card at ATMs? Customer service line has me on hold forever and I really need cash for my landlord who only takes money orders. Are there withdrawal limits I don't know about??
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Olivia Kay
same thing happened to me last week!! could only take out $80 at a time, had to do like 5 transactions to get my rent money
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Henry Delgado
•Seriously?? But u were eventually able to get all your money out? Did you call anyone or just keep trying smaller amounts?
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Joshua Hellan
Might be ATM youre using. Some ATMs only let u pull out certain amounts from EBT cards now. Try a Bank of America ATM those ones always work for me
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Henry Delgado
•Thanks I'll try BofA tomorrow. Do you know if they charge a fee for non-customers?
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Jibriel Kohn
•BofA doesn't charge EBT users fees - they're the official bank partner for California's EBT system. Also, there are daily withdrawal limits ($1000) and some individual ATMs have lower limits ($200-400). One thing to check: when's the last time you changed your PIN? Sometimes system glitches happen when PINs are about to expire.
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Edison Estevez
Make sure you're using a surcharge-free ATM. There's been a recent change where some non-network ATMs are declining EBT cash benefit withdrawals completely rather than charging fees (which they're not supposed to do). Also check if you've already made withdrawals this month that might be hitting some kind of limit. The EBT customer service is horrible right now because they're upgrading their systems.
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Emily Nguyen-Smith
•this is rite!!!!!!! they sent letter bout this i think last month saying sumthing about ATM changes. i always use the ones at grocery stores now
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James Johnson
I had almost the EXACT same thing happen but it turned out my card was damaged even though it looked fine! The chip was working for purchases but the magnetic strip for ATMs was damaged. They sent me a new card in about 5 days. Until then I just used it for purchases and got cash back at stores which worked fine.
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Henry Delgado
•That's actually a really good idea about getting cash back at stores. Going to try that today! How much cash back can you usually get?
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James Johnson
•Most grocery stores will do $100-$200 cash back. Walmart does up to $100. Target only $40. I went to Grocery Outlet and did two separate transactions to get $200 total. Just make small purchases like a drink or something each time.
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Sophia Rodriguez
had this problem for 3 weeks straight last month!!! no one at calworks could tell me why!!! so frustrating i nearly got evicted cuz i couldnt get rent money out!!! the whole system is designed to make it hard for us i swear
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Olivia Kay
•omg that's awful! did it eventually start working again or did u have to get a new card?
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Jibriel Kohn
UPDATE: There actually IS a known issue with EBT cash withdrawals right now affecting multiple counties. The EBT vendor (Fidelity Information Services) is implementing security upgrades that are causing intermittent denials at certain ATMs. This is temporary but might continue for another week. Your funds are safe and accessible, but you might need to try different withdrawal methods: 1. Use Bank of America ATMs specifically 2. Get cash back with purchases at grocery stores 3. Make smaller withdrawals (under $200) if larger ones are declined 4. Try different times of day (early morning tends to work better) I work with CalWORKs clients and many are experiencing this right now. If you urgently need access to your full funds, visit your county office in person and request assistance.
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Henry Delgado
•THANK YOU for this info!! I went to BofA yesterday and was able to get cash out in $200 increments. Had to do 4 separate transactions but at least I got my rent money. Wish they would've warned us about these "upgrades" before they started them!
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