Access restored for food stamp users

Atlanta Journal-Constitution - A system failure that left people in Georgia and 16 other states unable to use their food stamp debit-style cards has been restored, said Xerox Corp., the vendor that operates the program.

The outage forced food stamp recipients to walk away from their grocery carts Saturday when the electronic payment system connected to their benefits failed during a routine test. Called Electronic Benefits Transfer, the system allows people to spend their welfare benefits with payment cards.  Read more.