Here’s What You Need to Know About Zelle

What Is Zelle?

Zelle is a P2P payment app that's embedded in many bank and credit union accounts. Early Warning Services created the app, and that company is co-owned by seven of the largest banks in the U.S.: Bank of America, Capital One, JP Morgan Chase, PNC Bank, Truist, U.S. Bank and Wells Fargo.

Although it launched later than competitors like Venmo and Cash App, Zelle has become one of the largest P2P payment apps. In 2023 alone, some 120 million consumers and small businesses used Zelle to transfer $806 billion—about $100 million was transferred every hour during the fourth quarter of 2023.

How Does Zelle Work?

If your financial institution is part of the Zelle network, you can activate your account for free and request money or send payments to someone else, such as a friend or a small business, that has an eligible U.S. bank account.

Unlike some P2P apps, you won't have a separate Zelle balance—your money moves directly from and to your connected bank account. Zelle transfers move between accounts that are enrolled in Zelle and generally happen within minutes. However, some transactions can take several business days.

To get started with Zelle:

1. Enroll with your mobile number or email. Log in to your bank account online or use the mobile app and go to the transfer money area. Look for a transfer or send money with Zelle option. You may need to provide a U.S. phone number or email address and verify the code sent to your phone or email to get started.
2. Add recipients. Once you enroll, you can add new recipients using their U.S. phone number or email address. You'll be able to easily choose from your recipient list to make transactions, but you can also add new recipients while sending or requesting money.
3. Send, request or split money. You can now send or request money using Zelle and the other party's phone number, email address or by scanning their Zelle QR code. You can make one-time payments, schedule payments and create recurring payments. You can also request money from multiple people to split a bill, such as the tab when you're out for dinner with friends. With some financial institutions, certain Zelle features, like splitting a bill, are only available in the banking app.

You can only enroll your phone number and email address with one bank account at a time. If you have multiple accounts, you may be able to use different email addresses to enroll in Zelle at each account. Otherwise, enrolling your phone number or email at one bank might disconnect it from the other.

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Which Banks Use Zelle?

Over 2,200 banks and credit unions have Zelle built in as a feature, including most of the largest banks and credit unions (by asset size) in the country.

Banks That Offer Zelle

• Bank of America
• Capital One
• Chase Bank
• Citibank
• PNC Bank
• TD Bank
• Truist Bank
• U.S. Bank
• Wells Fargo

Top Credit Unions That Offer Zelle

• America First Credit Union
• Boeing Employees Credit Union (BECU)
• Golden 1 Credit Union
• Mountain America Credit Union
• Navy Federal Credit Union
• Pentagon Federal Credit Union (PenFed)
• SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union

You can also search for a financial institution by name on the Zelle website to see if it's part of the Zelle network.

Does Zelle Charge a Fee?

Zelle doesn't charge any fees to send or receive money. Other P2P apps charge fees if you send money using a credit card, or if you want to instantly deposit funds from the app into your bank account. With Zelle, you have to send money from an eligible U.S. bank account and incoming money is generally available within minutes.

Banks and credit unions also generally don't charge you anything to use Zelle. However, your accounts may have other fees associated with them, such as a monthly maintenance fee for keeping your account open or an overdraft fee if you send too much money with Zelle.

Learn more: Common Bank Fees and How to Avoid Them

What Is Zelle's Transfer Limit?

There may be a limit on how much you can send using Zelle within a 24-hour period, seven-day period and each month. You may also be limited to a certain number of transfers within a given period.

However, financial institutions take different approaches to monitoring and limiting Zelle activity. For example, some banks and credit unions publish daily and weekly transfer limits, but others say that these limits could change at any time. You might see the transfer limit displayed when you start a payment and choose a recipient.

Generally, the limits are only for sending money using Zelle, and they're in place to protect customers from scams and fraud. Your transfer limits could depend on various factors, including:

• How long you've been enrolled in Zelle and your transaction history
• Which account you're sending money from and the account's history
• Who the recipient is, whether you've sent them money before and how long they've been enrolled in Zelle

Other apps also impose similar controls and limits, although the specifics depend on the app.

Is Zelle Safe?

Zelle is safe in the sense that you can use it to quickly and securely send money to friends, family members and businesses. It may also be more convenient than alternatives that aren't part of your bank account and charge for instant withdrawals.

The direct link to your bank account, quick transfers and lack of reversals also make Zelle a juicy target for scammers and fraudsters. Be careful, because:

• Zelle doesn't have purchase protections. Even Zelle recommends using a credit card for purchases if you don't know the seller. If you purchase something with a credit card and the seller doesn't follow through with the product or service, you can initiate a dispute and will likely get your money back. Some credit cards even offer purchase protections that will give you a refund if an item you buy is lost, stolen or accidentally damaged. Zelle doesn't offer any purchase protections.
• You can't cancel transactions. You may be able to cancel the pending payment if the recipient hasn't enrolled in Zelle. However, unlike checks and some types of electronic transfers, you can't cancel or reverse a Zelle payment if the recipient has a registered Zelle account. This could be a problem if you accidentally send money to the wrong person or quickly realize that a scammer tricked you into sending them money.
• There are limited protections for unauthorized transactions. If someone gains unauthorized access to your bank account and makes Zelle payments, you may be able to get the money back if you quickly alert your bank. However, you might not get reimbursed if you learn about the unauthorized access and wait to tell your bank.
• There are even fewer protections for authorized transactions. You might not get any money back if a scammer tricks you into sending them money using Zelle. Generally, the scammer pretends to be someone else, such as a representative from a bank, government agency or police department as part of the scam.

Zelle started reimbursing some scam victims in late 2023 in response to a surge in Zelle-based scams and political inquiries. But it doesn't have any firm purchase protections. And, as of January 2025, Zelle still warns that you should treat Zelle like cash—once you send money, you might not get it back.

Learn more: How to Avoid Peer-to-Peer Payment Fraud

Frequently Asked Questions

The Bottom Line

If you want to transfer money quickly, Zelle could be a good, no-cost option that works almost instantly. Unlike other P2P transfer apps, Zelle doesn't charge fees and the money will move directly out of and into your connected bank account.

However, the direct access to your account, lack of purchase protections, inability to reverse payments and potential lack of reimbursements for scam victims can also make it risky. Try to only use Zelle with friends, family members and small businesses that you trust. And double-check the recipient's phone number or email address before sending a payment.