Gift cards issued by Visa and MasterCard can be easily used as cash in any store, including those which sell food. These types of cards should be counted as cash on hand for the purpose of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program resource test. Other gift cards that can be converted to cash should be treated the same as Visa and MasterCard gift cards. Therefore, if an applicant declares that they have such a card, the household statements regarding the amount(s) on such card(s) is accepted without further verification just as they would if an applicant declared the amount of cash they have available on hand.
For income purposes, if receipt of these cards is frequently recurring and can be reasonably anticipated as to amount and date of receipt, these would be counted as income with the amount to be verified through the provider of the card. If these cards are received infrequently, the household’s declaration of the dollar amount is accepted and considered a resource.
Store specific gift cards are not counted as income or in the resource test if they cannot be converted to cash.
If you have further questions, feel free to email the SNAP mailbox at afs.snap@okdhs.org.
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