Skip to main content

Farmers Markets Seeking Permanent Solution for Mobile SNAP Payments

The Novo Dia Group is an Austin-based developer that created the Mobile Market Plus app used by many farmers markets and farm stands in the state of Michigan and across the nation to process Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Bridge Card transactions.

The Novo Dia Group is an Austin-based developer that created the Mobile Market Plus app used by many farmers markets and farm stands in the state of Michigan and across the nation to process Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Bridge Card transactions.

The company, which processes about 40 percent of SNAP transactions at farmers markets nationwide, announced that it would end its service by July 31. Their shutdown would have left about 1,700 markets that offer SNAP with no way to serve low-income customers, including an estimated 40 to 50 Michigan farm market sites and 35 individual Michigan farmers. This would also have affected “Double Up Food Bucks” and other programs that incentive the purchase of fruits and vegetables, programs supported by philanthropy.

Because farmers markets and farm stands typically do not have the option of accepting electronic payments via land lines, they require mobile devices to swipe SNAP recipients’ Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards. In 2012, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) set up the Free SNAP Wireless Equipment Program to provide mobile devices to farmers markets. Since then, it is reported that more than 2,500 markets have received card readers, tablets or smartphones. Separately, though, software is needed to process the federal benefits.

The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) administers SNAP through the USDA. The FNS had contracted with the Farmers Market Coalition (FMC) for the mobile service; FNS had worked with Novo Dia on the mobile platform. When the FMC contract with FNS ended in 2017, FNS had what they call “an open, competitive process” for a new vendor. In March 2018, Financial Transaction Management (FTM) was awarded the $1.3 million contract.

Josh Wiles, founder and president of Novo Dia, says his company was unable to work with FTM and without continuing to gain new customers and economies of scale, Novo Dia could not remain financially viable.

“Once it became clear that we were not going to be part of [the contract process], we knew we would not be able to scale in a manner that allowed us to be profitable or even sustainable.”

The announcement of Novo Dia‘s expected shutdown left many reeling.

In Michigan, funding was recently included in the state budget to support farmers markets and farm stands to obtain no-cost wireless point-of-sale devices to process SNAP Bridge Card transactions. However, without the app to process the transactions, many of those devices would be essentially useless.

The Michigan Farmers Market Association (MiFMA) is recommending that farmers impacted by the situation begin the process of applying for a device from the state that is not reliant on the software.

“Since funding became available in May, we are finding that it is typically taking a minimum of three weeks from the start of the application process to receive a device. In some cases, it may take longer.” MiFMA is therefore recommending the process be started immediately.

The Governor’s Office of Foundation Liaison explains that, for Mobile Market Plus users, the cost of purchasing new software can be a major barrier, particularly for those users who already received state or federal support to purchase Novo Dia’s products. And, while there are some third-party options to fill the potential void, most have higher up front and operational costs that farmers and farm markets are not capable of supporting.

On July 19, the National Association of Farmers Market Nutrition Programs (NAFMNP), a nonprofit organization, announced it would provide Novo Dia with operational funding for an additional 30 days so that stakeholder states would not experience any disruption, calling the mobile device solution “paramount for small farmers and markets.”

On July 27, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that New York State and the Farmers Market Federation of New York reached an agreement with Novo Dia to enable SNAP recipients to continue to use their benefits at farmers markets through the rest of the season - not only in New York, but across the country. 

Coupled with the NAFMNP support and the agreement reached under New York’s leadership, farmers are not at risk for losing the software access for roughly six months. Wiles expressed gratitude to both New York and NAFMNP.

“This [support] will not only avoid any immediate disruption of service, but also allows additional time to explore avenues for a long-term sustainable solution.”

That long-term solution is still in question.

Want more?

Learn more about Novo Dia Group and their Mobile Market solution.

Read the FMC press release.

Read the USDA / FNS press release.

Read Governor Cuomo’s press release.

X