I think it looks very different than you think. The recent Walmart mistake in Louisiana paints a different picture.

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57607332/ebt-benefit-card-glitch-sparks-walmart-shopping-sprees-in-louisiana/

Not, the same outage occurred in numerous locations, but this only happened where someone said honor the cards anyway.

In other locations there were no issues.