[michaelaiello]

Let's look at this from the user perspective.

Grocery store 1: No credit option, must have a positive balance on my EBT card.

Grocery store 2 (P&L Deli Grocery) flexible credit option, able to take a loan out while waiting for EBT card to get replenished.

As a customer, which one of these two offerings is better?

#2 is clearly a better grocery store. It is a grocery + lender for those on EBT cards!

The EBT system (and, likely every other credit card / merchant processor) bans informal credit because there is no basis of control or audit-ability on these kinds of transactions.