Customers check out at the Dover Air Force Base, Del., commissary in 2020. The Army and Air Force Exchange Service has extended the option of deferring payments without interest for three months on commissary purchases with the Military Star card through the end of November. (Roland Balik/U.S. Air Force)
Defense Department employees with commissary access who are feeling the strain of missed paychecks still have the option of deferring payment for groceries penalty-free when shopping there.
The Army and Air Force Exchange Service extended an offer it rolled out last month to Military Star cardholders to provide relief during the government shutdown, which began on Oct. 1 and was on the verge Tuesday of becoming the longest in U.S. history.
Through November, no payment is required on Military Star card commissary purchases for three months, and interest won’t accrue for 90 days, AAFES announced last week.
The program was supposed to end Oct. 31, but AAFES extended it when it was clear the shutdown would continue into a second month, an AAFES spokeswoman said last week.
Military Star card usage at commissaries climbed immediately after the relief offer went into effect, according to AAFES.
Commissary sales with the card were up more than 20% between Oct. 6 and Oct. 28, compared with the same period last year, AAFES spokesman Chris Ward said in a statement Monday.
The number of new accounts increased more than 35% during the same time frame, and the average commissary purchase using the card also spiked more than 8% immediately after Oct. 6, Ward said.
With the special offer, customers will pay interest only on any remaining balances going forward after the 90 days are up. The Federal Reserve’s interest rate adjustment last week lowered the Star card’s interest rate to 13.99%.
The current average credit card interest rate is about 25.32%, Forbes reported Monday.
While more commissary patrons are using the Military Star card for purchases, overall store sales declined slightly during the first few weeks of October, a Defense Commissary Agency statement last week said.
“After consecutive months of growth, sales for the month are down 1.5%,” agency spokesman Kevin Robinson said.
DECA attributes the drop to the shutdown, as foot traffic in commissary stores was down 7.8% compared with the same period in 2024.
While the 2 million active-duty members of the military remain on the job and have been paid so far during the shutdown, hundreds of thousands of federal workers are furloughed or working without pay, including military spouses both stateside and overseas.
The Military Star card has been accepted at commissaries since the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act extended acceptance to include DECA.
It can also be used at any of the military exchanges in store and online, as well as at on-installation gas stations, food courts and retail vendors.
DOD civilians who are not assigned overseas can use the card only at the 16 commissaries stateside that are participating in a pilot program to test the feasibility of expanding store access. The program has been extended through the end of this year.
Those eligible for the card are active-duty, National Guard and reserve personnel and retirees, their families and survivors, as well as Purple Heart recipients, disabled veterans and certain others.
A shopper enters the commissary at Yokota Air Base, Japan, in 2024. The Army and Air Force Exchange Service has extended the option of deferring payments without interest for three months on commissary purchases with the Military Star card through the end of November. (Stars and Stripes)
