Zelle Adds 600 Financial Institutions to P2P Network

Over 30 million people use Zelle to send and receive money in the US, and that number will grow with new FI additions.

Need to Know

  • Interest in Zelle continues to grow as 600 new credit unions and banks have now joined the fintech platform that allows users to seamlessly send money between US bank accounts.
  • The digital payments app saw a 207% year-over-year growth in transactions. In 2019, Zelle processed $187 billion in payments via 743 million transactions.
  • Zelle currently has over 30 million users.
  • Zelle is operated by Early Warning Services, a private financial services company owned by the Bank of America, BB&T, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank, US Bank, Citibank and Wells Fargo.

Analysis

Fiserv announced yesterday that almost 600 new financial institutions have joined the Zelle Network, enabling person-to-person (P2P) payment capabilities for customers across various banking institutions. 

Zelle is a US-based digital payments network that allows users to send and receive money between participating bank accounts by simply providing an email address or phone number. Zelle is owned and developed by Early Warning Services, which itself is owned by major banks including Bank of America, Capital One, Citibank, and JPMorgan Chase. 

Some of the new FIs joining Zelle include Patelco Credit Union and SunWest Federal Credit Union.

Fiserv, a financial services technology provider, has now connected almost over 700 financial institutions to the app, resulting in year-over-year growth in transactions by 207%. 

“Keeping up with continually changing consumer expectations is an ongoing challenge for retail financial institutions,” said Tom Allanson, president of electronic payments, Fiserv. “Technology can level the playing field, and Turnkey Service for Zelle enables financial institutions of all sizes to offer P2P payments and grow customer interactions.”

Because of the growing need for innovation in fintech and the easy onboarding “Turnkey Service” provided by Zelle, more and more banks are joining the network. 

Citibank has been advancing its tech strategy recently, hiring thousands of coders and data scientists, investing in quantum finance research, and partnering with other major brands such as Google and PayPal. Being a part of the Zelle Network is just one more move to increase Citibank’s presence in the fintech space. 

The same goes for Bank of America, another of Zelle’s owners. For some of these major banks, Zelle is a response to PayPal-owned Venmo, a rising star in fintech. 

And even smaller, local banks are seeing the benefits of being a part of Zelle, which also lowers costs and increases time to market. 

“We initially took a ‘wait and see’ approach when it came to Zelle,” said Katie Defeo, marketing director at SunWest Federal Credit Union, which serves members in Maricopa County and the city of Tucson, Arizona. “Then we saw that the number one word being searched on our website was ‘Zelle’, and we changed our minds. We realized this was something our members were seeking, and Turnkey Service for Zelle offered a practical way for us to get started.”

In 2019, Zelle processed $187 billion in payments via 743 million transactions.