Amazon is offering a reduced Prime rate to customers on government assistance

Shawn Knight

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Amazon on Tuesday announced that it is lowering the price of its Prime subscription service for US customers participating in select government assistance programs.

A monthly subscription to Amazon Prime regularly sells for $99 per year or $10.99 per month but under Amazon’s new program, those with a valid Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card can sign up at a rate of $5.99 per month.

An EBT card is typically used to disburse funds for multiple government assistance programs including Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Program (WIC) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Amazon said it will add additional ways to quality in the future for those on programs that do not use an EBT card.

It’s worth noting that EBT funds cannot be used to pay for a Prime membership.

The e-commerce giant announced earlier this year that beginning this summer, it’ll accept food stamps to pay for online grocery orders as part of a pilot program with half a dozen other companies.

Greg Greeley, Vice President of Amazon Prime, said they designed the membership option for customers receiving government assistance to make their everyday selection and savings more accessible including the many conveniences and entertainment benefits of Prime.

Qualifying customers can lock in the $5.99 rate every 12 months for a total of four times. As with standard month-to-month users, there is no annual commitment and members can cancel at any time.

Photo via Getty Images

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It's certainly a nice gesture, but I'm wondering just how useful this is for people on government assistance .....
 
I'll tell ya what they need, better-paying jobs to get off the government. Why is it the most rewarded people in our country are the f*ing lazy ones?
 
Please lower the price for everyone, even the existing members paying the annual regular price for years. I don't believe that Amazon is what it is today because of membership fees. The loss could mean one less city block re-developed by Amazon for Amazon, in downtown Seattle. Come on! One less free banana maybe?!
 
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