As of April 1, 2025, the Zelle App is no more.
Zelle, created by a consortium of financial institutions, has announced that individuals using the stand-alone app must now sign up with one of the over 2200 banks and credit unions in the US that offer the service. The payment history of App users will be available to access until August 11, 2025, when it will be erased. Signing up with a bank will not save the data.
In February, Zelle revealed that it had reached over $1 trillion in transactions serving both individuals and businesses.
The total dollar amount sent on the platform increased 27% from 2023, while transaction volume on Zelle totaled $3.6 billion, a 25% increase from the prior year.
Zelle also shared that small businesses sent or received more than 500 million transactions in 2024, a 32% increase from 2023 totaling $283 billion, a 32% increase from the previous year.
It has not all been smooth sailing for Zelle as some have criticized the amount of fraud affiliated with the service. Once the money is sent, it can be difficult to receive. Zelle has fought back, sharing that in 2023, 99.95% of Zelle payments were completed without a report of fraud or scam. As well, much of the fraud is perpetrated via social media scams and trusting individuals making bad decisions. If you are now dealing bank-to-bank, this danger may be mitigated further.
Zelle was created to compete with the rise of peer-to-peer (P2P) services that have become ubiquitous—like Venmo, which has achieved verb status. While Zelle may have been late to the game, its traction has been solid, and the support of banks is key in competing with other Fintechs.
