Amazon to offer discount Prime memberships for those on government assistance
Amazon will now offer discount memberships to its Prime subscription service at a rate of $5.99 each month.
Prime is best known for getting subscribers unlimited free two-day shipping on most items, as well as allowing access to Prime Music, Prime Video, Prime Reading and Prime Photos. For now, the discount is available to people with a valid Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards, but Amazon said it plans to expand the lower rate to people on other government assistance programs.
Amazon said a Prime membership helps customers “save time and money.”
“We designed this membership option for customers receiving government assistance to make our everyday selection and savings more accessible, including the many conveniences and entertainment benefits of Prime,” said Greg Greeley,Vice President of Amazon Prime, in a press release.
EBT cards are used to distribute funds from a number of government assistance programs, like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Program (WIC) and the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Programs and distribution mechanisms can vary by state.
As of last month, there were over 21 million households comprising nearly 43 million people on SNAP. Each household’s average monthly benefit is $252.92.
To enroll, people have to provide an eligible EBT number. The service will cost $5.99 a month instead of the usual $10.99 and can be canceled at anytime, but customers can’t use their benefits to pay the monthly fee. They’ll then have access to all of Prime’s deals and services, including a 20 percent discount on diaper subscriptions.
The discounted Prime membership is Amazon’s latest effort to compete with Walmart for low-income shoppers. In January the online retailer announced that starting this summer, people can use food stamps to pay for its online grocery service. Amazon is participating with six other grocery retailers as part of a U.S. Department of Agriculture program aimed at eliminating neighborhoods where residents don’t have access to affordable, fresh food. As with the discounted Prime memberships, customers can’t use their government benefits to pay the program fees.
That program will be available in seven pilot states in both rural and urban areas, USDA said. The agency said the experiment will help test online ordering and payment using EBT.
This story was originally published June 6, 2017 at 1:04 PM with the headline "Amazon to offer discount Prime memberships for those on government assistance."