SNAP English 
 
Narrator: Hi. We’re going to spend the next few minutes together talking about your new Access Oklahoma card and how to use it. This video will show you how to use your card to buy food. We’ll show you each step but, we’re going to do it in a short amount of time. Please make sure you understand each step before you leave the county office today. This video will tell you what the card looks like, what a PIN is and how to get yours, and what to do if you lose your card, how to keep track of what’s left in your account. It’s a lot of stuff so let’s get started. 
 
This is an Access Oklahoma Card. In the lower left hand corner of the card you’ll see your name. Now, this may be the most important thing that we talk about today. This card is yours. It is for you to use and nobody else. In fact while we’re at it, please always remember this: It is illegal to sell or trade your card, or to use someone else’s benefits. Illegal. If you do so the DHS Office of Inspector General will investigate, you will be prosecuted through the local District Attorney, you will have to pay back the benefits and you could lose any chance of ever receiving benefits again. You could go to prison. With the technology behind this system, it’s pretty easy to track down illegal activity, so don’t try it. 
 
Now, just above your name on the card is a set of large numbers, like with any credit or debit card a long number is assigned to your account. Those numbers tell the system who you are and some information about your benefits. Now let’s look at the back. There’s a place for you to sign right along that little sticker, make sure you have signed that line. They won’t let you use it in the store if there’s no signature there, okay? See that dark strip at the top of the card? It’s very important to protect that little strip from being scratched or damaged. It’s the part the machine in the store reads. So you’ll be given a paper sleeve to keep your card in. It will take care of your card and save you some inconveniences later. Okay, so that’s what the card looks like.  
 
Now besides this card, you’ll need a PIN, PIN stands for personal identification number. Every time you use your card at the store you’ll be asked to punch in your personal identification number on a machine that looks like this. Your PIN is set up so the system will be able to tell that the PIN you punch in is the right PIN for that card. So how do you get your personal identification number? To show you how easy it is let’s do this: This is my friend Anne. Anne has just gotten her Access Oklahoma Card and needs to get her PIN. So let’s watch Anne as she makes the call to get her PIN. Okay, Anne has her Access Oklahoma Card, good. She dials the number. The helpline operates in English or Spanish so, Anne selects English by pressing one. She then presses one again to select food benefit. The helpline then asks Anne to enter the number on the front of the card. Anne enters all 16 numbers. After hearing her balance she listens to the prompts and selects three to select a PIN. It asks her to enter a four digit number of her choosing. Anne enters a number she thought of earlier that will be easy for her to remember and hard for other people to figure out, like an old house address. The helpline has her enter the number again to be sure it’s the one she wants, and that’s it. She writes the number down in a safe place and she is ready to use her Access Oklahoma Card for groceries. Thanks Anne.  Please, do not write your PIN on the card sleeve. 
 
Now, just one more word about your PIN: Don’t share it with anyone. You are the only person authorized to use your card. Nobody from this end here at OKDHS will ever ask your PIN and you should never tell it to anyone. If your card is ever misused it’s a big deal and because a card cannot be misused without the PIN, then your benefits won’t be replaced. It’s your responsibility to take care of the benefits in your account and that means protecting your PIN. Having said that, we do know that sometimes cards are going to get lost or stolen. If your card is lost or stolen call your county office immediately. You will be given instructions on how to order a new card and have it mailed to you. You must take care of your Access Oklahoma Card. 
 
Okay, so we talked about the card, what it looks like, and how to take care of it. Let’s check in with Anne again. Anne has been using her Access Oklahoma Card for a while and has pretty well gotten the hang of it. She is going to take you through an actual check out at the grocery store so you’ll be ready when you go to the store. The first thing that we need to remember is to always look at the front of the store for the decal that says this store takes Access Benefits Cards. There are some stores that do not or cannot accept Access Oklahoma so be sure when you come in. These stickers will look like this. The next thing we need to remember is there are things the grocery store sells that you cannot buy with SNAP Benefits. It’s pretty easy to keep straight. SNAP Benefits buy food and drinks but not alcohol, and while we’re at it no tobacco either, or paper goods, cleaning products, personal care items like toothpaste and vitamins and medicine, or food prepared in the store to be eaten there, like at a sit down deli. You also cannot buy hot foods that are prepared at the store to be carried out and eaten.  
 
So, let’s take a look in Anne’s shopping cart and see what she’s picked out. Look Anne has separated her items in the cart to keep all the Access Oklahoma items together. See, she’ll pay separately for the cleaning supplies, paper towels, and sponges. Some stores will require you to make two separate transactions and some will separate the items on the receipt. Now Anne is ready to check out. She goes up to the clerk and unloads her items. Anne tells the clerk that she will be using an Access Oklahoma Card. Once the clerk has totaled the items, Anne takes her card and runs it through the point of service device. In stores that have the machine there will always be a place to swipe your card and a PIN pad to punch in your four digit PIN. The clerk enters the amount and asks Anne to punch in her PIN. Anne punches in her PIN. After her PIN, Anne pushes the enter button. Now all the information about Anne’s purchases go over a phone line to a big computer that first checks Anne’s account to see if there’s enough to cover what she is buying, then takes out the amount that Anne spent. When the transaction is complete, the clerk hands Anne a receipt. Always save your receipt, it’ll help you know how much is in your account. Every time you buy something using your Access Oklahoma Card, your receipt will tell you exactly what happened during the transaction. You’ll see a list of the things you bought, how much each item cost, and the total cost of all of your items and then right down at the bottom of the receipt it lists how much is in your account now. The system has already taken out the benefits you spent and printed what is left right there. If you ever need to double check your balance you can call the phone number on the back of your card and check the balance over the phone. If you have access to the internet, follow the directions to create a log in and you will be able to check your account balance right there on the computer. You should check your balance before each trip to the store. If you go to the store and try to buy more groceries than you have benefits, the system will decline the purchase. So check the amount of the purchase against your balance before you punch in your PIN.  
 
So, now you’ve seen how it will work when you make a purchase with your Access Oklahoma Card. I need to tell you about two other types of transactions you can make with your Access Oklahoma Card. You may find yourself buying food from an approved Access Oklahoma vendor who uses manual transactions. This means that everything happens the same way but the store employee fills out a voucher by hand. You’ll get a copy of the voucher to keep track of your balance, it will just be hand written.  There will be one more place that you can use your Access Oklahoma card to buy food. Recently Access Oklahoma has made an agreement with many farmer’s markets in the state. Ask your worker if your local farmer’s market is participating. There should be a poster like this one in the county office to tell you about farmer’s markets in your area. If you have access to the internet you can also log on for a list of participating farmer’s markets.  
 
Using your Access Oklahoma Card at a farmer’s market is a little different than shopping in a grocery store. Once you arrive at the farmer’s market you will find the SNAP booth. You will swipe your card just like you do at the grocery store and you will receive one dollar tokens equal to the amount you plan to spend. From there you will take your tokens to the individual booths and choose your items. If you find that you don’t spend all of your tokens, you can return to the SNAP booth, and they will take back the tokens and put the left over amount back into your account. This is a great way to include locally grown fruits and vegetables in your family’s diet.  
 
Now I know you’re about ready to go and all of this seems really easy when we’re watching a video, but there’s always a chance that something won’t work the way it’s supposed to work. If you have a question, a problem, or find a charge or transaction that you don’t understand, please call the Access Oklahoma Customer Service line. The phone number is always staffed 24/7 with people who know how to take care of Access Oklahoma problems. The number is printed on the back of your Access Oklahoma Card. We’re almost finished. I just have a few things left to cover. For lots of you getting your Access Oklahoma Cards you might be shopping out of state, don’t worry Access Oklahoma is accepted in all other states. 
 
Now finally let’s face it, this card will wear out one day, when these cards wear out they will not be recognized by the machine when you swipe it. If the clerk has to hand enter your card number because it won’t swipe, you must request a new card. DHS monitors manual entries and if you do not replace your card in a reasonable amount of time, it will be deactivated. This will cause your card to be denied when you try to buy groceries, so replace your card when it wears out. Well that’s about it. I hope I have been able to explain all of this clearly. It’s our hope that you will be able to use your Access Oklahoma Card easily and without problems. I’m sure you’re ready to give it a try yourself, it will be easy. Be sure that you understand everything before you leave this county office today. If you still have a question, please be sure to ask someone, we’re here to help. Thanks for watching.