When Amazon purchased Whole Foods, the company entered the perishable food delivery market.
You might wonder if Amazon accepts WIC, the government assistance program used by millions of families with young children. What you need to know is provided below.
In 2022, will Amazon accept the WIC program?
The WIC program will no longer be accepted by Amazon in 2022 as a payment method for any grocery purchases. WIC, which is administered by each state, is not available online and is only available in stores. To make up for this, Amazon does provide WIC recipients with a discounted rate on Prime.
Learn why Amazon does not accept WIC, how you can still get a deal with Amazon using WIC, and whether or not Amazon will accept WIC in the future by reading on!
What Gives Amazon the Right to Reject WIC?
No one knows for sure why Amazon doesn’t accept WIC for its grocery program, but there are a number of plausible explanations for the situation.
First and foremost, as previously mentioned, state-by-state variations exist in the WIC guidelines, as does the technology used to administer the program.
As a result of these differences, the use of WIC was not uniform across states until very recently. As a result, Amazon would bear the burden of meeting all of the various state regulations.
Some states still don’t offer WIC benefits via a card, which will expire in October 2020. As a result, most continued to provide them in the form of paper checks or vouchers that could not be used online.
Is Your WIC Card Accepted on Amazon?
To get a discount on Amazon Prime, your WIC card can’t be used to buy food on Amazon.
Normally, Amazon Prime costs $12.99 per month, but you can get it for $5.99 with your WIC information. Visit this page if you’re interested in signing up. After clicking the “Get Started” button, you will see the heading “How do you qualify to save 50% off Prime?”
A list of other programs, including WIC, can be selected by clicking the “Other” button. Select your state and upload a picture of your benefits card or letter of eligibility.
Because Amazon has made signing up so simple, even if you can’t use WIC to buy food there yet, there’s no reason not to take advantage of the discount.
Is SNAP Accepted by Amazon?
Only in Alaska, Hawaii, Louisiana, and Montana does Amazon accept SNAP EBT benefits for use at Amazon Fresh and on Amazon.com, except in those states.
SNAP, or the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program formerly known as Food Stamps, is available to many WIC recipients.
For SNAP, only food items that can be consumed by humans are allowed to be purchased on Amazon, just like they would in a traditional grocery store.
For more information on how to join, see this page, and then go to this one when you’re ready to do so.
Are There Any Methods of Payment That Amazon Takes?
Even though WIC cannot be used to purchase food items from amazon.com, there are many other payment options available to you, including the following:
- An EBT card for food stamps
- nearly every major charge card (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover)
- The Diner’s club
- STAR
- Prepaid cards for Visa, MasterCard, and American Express
- JCB
- NYCE
- Secured Cards and the Amazon Store
- Gift certificates from Amazon
Is WIC accepted at Whole Foods?
WIC is accepted at Amazon-owned Whole Foods locations, so you can bring your benefits card and pick up your WIC-approved goods.
In 2017, Amazon paid over $13 billion for Whole Foods, which became the cornerstone of its same-day grocery delivery service.
As a result, even though you’re using your WIC benefits at an Amazon-owned company, it isn’t allowed on the company’s website.
WIC benefits can still be received at brick-and-mortar Whole Foods locations, even if you can’t buy Whole Foods products on Amazon Fresh using WIC at this time.
A wide variety of WIC-approved foods can be found at Whole Foods, such as the following:
- Cheese
- Yogurt
- Products made from soy
- Milk
- Juice
- Fruits and vegetables that are in season are the best option.
- Cereals
- Bread
- Pastas
- Legumes
- Fish in a can
- Formula, cereal, meat, and fruit/vegetables are all examples of infant foods.
- Eggs
- Butternut Squash
It’s important to note that these examples are meant to be illustrative, as the rules in each state may be different.
WIC generally only allows the most generic form of the foods listed above, even though Whole Foods carries many of the items mentioned in the preceding paragraph.
So, for example, organic or free-range chicken eggs are not permitted in WIC-approved chicken feed. Whole Foods’ business model is based on these kinds of specialties.
As a result, finding eligible items may necessitate some close examination.
Is it possible that Amazon will one day accept WIC?
The federal government has mandated that WIC state agencies implement WIC cards by the end of 2020, phasing out checks and vouchers. This means that you may be able to use WIC on Amazon in the future.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says the focus is on making it as simple as possible for recipients to get their hands on these benefits. Additionally, WIC beneficiaries will be able to place orders online.
For a three-year grant to study and develop an online ordering model, the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition was announced by the USDA in November 2020.
As with SNAP, it’s only a matter of time before WIC cards are available for online ordering.
Please check out our posts on whether or not Amazon accepts PayPal, Paysafecard, and Klarna to learn more about the company.
Bottom Line
Amazon does not accept WIC at this time, but those who qualify for it can get a 50% discount on a Prime membership.
Because SNAP recipients and WIC recipients are often eligible for the same benefits, SNAP recipients can shop on Amazon, while WIC recipients can shop at Amazon’s Whole Foods stores.
