Overview:

This article outlines how to troubleshoot scenarios where **EBT (SNAP) transactions fail on one register**, while **credit card transactions continue to work**, in a System Five (S5) environment.


Symptoms:

Customers may report one or more of the following:


*   EBT transactions fail with errors such as *“No readable Track 2”*

*   Credit card transactions succeed on the same register

*   EBT works on another register at the same location

*   Issue appears intermittent or isolated to a single lane


Key Technical Context:

*   **EBT cards are magnetic‑stripe only**

*   Credit cards often use **EMV (chip)**, which does not rely on the mag‑stripe reader

*   A successful credit card transaction **does not fully validate** the mag‑stripe reader used for EBT


Root Cause (Observed Case):

In the Family Frozen deployment, the issue was isolated to:


*   A **faulty pinpad on one register**

*   The second register, using a different pinpad, processed EBT successfully

*   System Five, NetEPay, and merchant configuration were confirmed operational


This confirmed the problem was **hardware‑specific**, not software or processor related.


Recommended Troubleshooting Steps:

1.  **Confirm scope**

    *   Test EBT on another register at the same site

    *   If EBT works elsewhere, proceed with hardware isolation


2.  **Validate mag‑stripe reader**

    *   Test with a non‑chip magnetic‑stripe card (expired or depleted is acceptable)

    *   Failure on EBT but success on EMV cards may still indicate a mag‑stripe issue


3.  **Avoid unnecessary configuration changes**

    *   Do not immediately change merchant IDs, VARs, or NetEPay settings

    *   Credit card success indicates the service is running


4.  **Replace or swap the pinpad**

    *   Replace the pinpad on the affected register

    *   Retest EBT transactions


Resolution:

After replacing the pinpad on the affected register:


*   Credit card transactions continued to work

*   EBT transactions processed successfully

*   The merchant proceeded with planned full‑day testing before go‑live


Key Takeaways:

*   Always **isolate hardware first** when EBT fails on only one register

*   Credit card success alone does not rule out pinpad issues

*   Replacing a faulty pinpad can resolve EBT issues without system changes

*   Full‑day testing is recommended before final go‑live