§278.4. Procedure for redeeming coupons. — Inbound Citations

(1) Financial institutions that are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) or financial institutions which are insured under the Federal Credit Union Act and which have retail food stores or wholesale food concerns in their field of membership may redeem coupons only from authorized retail food stores, meal services, and wholesale food concerns in accordance with the rules contained in this part and instructions of the Federal Reserve Banks. No financial institution may impose on or collect from a retail food store a fee or other charge for redemption of coupons that are submitted to the financial institution in a manner consistent with the requirements, except for coupon cancellation, for the presentation of coupons by the financial institution to the Federal Reserve banks. Coupons submitted to insured financial institutions for credit or cash must be properly endorsed in accordance with § 278.4 of this part and shall be accompanied by a properly completed and signed redemption certificate. All verified and encoded redemption certificates accepted by insured financial institutions shall be forwarded with the corresponding coupon deposits to the Federal Reserve Bank along with the accompanying Food Coupon Deposit Document (Form FNS-521). In accordance with Federal Reserve requirements, the coupon deposit value entered on the Food Coupon Deposit Document must be equal to the actual value of coupons being deposited and to the total value of verified amounts encoded on the corresponding redemption certificates.

(1) The FNS officer in charge may approve the redemption under § 278.4 of coupons accepted by firms before the receipt of an authorization card from FNS if the following conditions exist:

(i) The coupons were received in accordance with the requirements of this part governing acceptance of coupons except the requirement that the firm be authorized before acceptance;

(ii) The coupons were accepted by the firm in good faith, and without intent to circumvent this part; and

(c) Requirements and restrictions on the participation of retail food stores and wholesale food concerns and the redemption of coupons described at §§ 278.2, 278.3 and 278.4 of this chapter, including the acceptance of coupons for eligible food at authorized firms, also apply to activities involving P-EBT benefits.

(a) Requirements and restrictions on the participation of retail food stores and wholesale food concerns and the redemption of benefits described at §§ 278.2, 278.3 and 278.4 of this chapter, including the acceptance of benefits for eligible food at authorized firms, also apply to activities involving Summer EBT benefits.