01/31/2024
Zelle (/zɛl/) is a United States–based digital payments network run by a private financial services company owned by the banks Bank of America, Truist, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo.[1][2][3][4] The Zelle service enables individuals to electronically transfer money from their bank account to another registered user's bank account (within the United States) using a mobile device or the website of a participating banking institution. There is no fee or charge on the transaction.[1][3]
The Zelle service was launched in June 2017,[1] as the successor to the clearXchange payment service. Zelle has expanded, and as of 2022 eighty percent of the US population could connect to Zelle through their banking app, with support by over 1600 financial institutions.[5] It has been criticized for being a platform that has facilitated online financial fraud in the United States. In 2022 at a Senate Banking Committee hearing it was censured for not giving refunds to people who were tricked by criminals using Zelle.
History
In April 2011, the clearXchange service was launched. It was originally owned and operated by Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo.[6][7] The service offered person-to-person (P2P), business-to-consumer (B2C), and government-to-consumer (G2C) payments.[8]
For person-to-person payments, clearXchange enabled users to send money to other registered users having accounts at participating banks in the United States. Users accessed the network within the websites and apps of member financial institutions,[6] and through clearXchange's website. The network connected with existing bank accounts, so consumers would not need to fund a separate account to use the service.[7] This feature and the lack of fees for using the service were highlighted as advantages for competition with other person-to-person payment services such as PayPal, Popmoney, and Square.[6][7] The system associated each user bank account with an email address and mobile phone number, so only the recipient's email address or mobile number was needed to send money directly from a bank account to the bank account of another person who had signed up for the service.[9][10][11]
