EBT Refund Failures on Frozen Cards

Purpose

This article is for Support teams assisting their customers with refund failures caused by a frozen EBT card.

EBT cardholders can freeze or unfreeze their cards through a mobile app, such as ebtEDGE, to prevent unauthorized transactions. When frozen, the card blocks purchases, withdrawals, and in some states, refunds. Refund failures can be confusing for customers, especially if they were not notified or forgot their card was frozen. This guide explains how to identify the problem and help customers fix it.

When This Happens

Refunds to frozen cards fail with the following error:

error_code: ebt_error_62
message: "Restricted card – Cannot Process – Call Customer Service"

A frozen card cannot accept funds until it’s unfrozen. Unfreezing a card can be done either in the customer’s EBT mobile app or, in some states, by calling the state’s EBT phone line.

What to do

When your support team processes a refund request and receives an ebt_error_62 error code, guide the customer through these steps:

1. Ask the customer to unfreeze their EBT card via the mobile app.
2. If the app isn’t working or the customer can’t unfreeze the card themselves, direct them to call their state’s EBT phone line for assistance.
3. Once the card is active, retry the refund.
4. Confirm with the customer that the refund was successful.
5. (Optional) Reassure the customer that they can re-freeze the card after the refund is complete.

Additional Phone Help

Each state has an EBT phone support line for:

• Checking balances
• Replacing lost or stolen cards
• Updating the PIN
• Troubleshooting card issues
• (In some states) Freezing or unfreezing cards

👉 Find your state’s EBT phone number (via Propel)