Zelle is one of the coolest things to come along since … well, for a very long time. Introduced last year, Zelle lets you transfer money between bank accounts, in different banks, instantly, for free. Zelle was under development for a while, then suddenly just showed up without warning. Support for and from most major American banks was built in, day one. POOF!
Zelle works just the way it’s described, and that’s trouble for the PayPals of the world. PayPal thought they were smart when they bought Venmo, but Venmo does account transfers overnight, not instantly (update: this has since been rectified, but also carries a fee at Venmo). With Zelle, you send money from one bank to another and it’s transferred immediately.
And Zelle Has a Problem.
I’ve been using Zelle since the day it arrived. I loved it on day one, today, and every day in between—until one of my banks changed policies. When I decided to close a checking account at Bank of America and replace it with one from CapitalOne I discovered that because both of those accounts were linked to the same email address there were some hoops to jump through. That’s a problem, but it’s not the problem.
The problem with Zelle is that its member banks aren’t telling a consistent story about those hoops. Consumers can’t talk to Zelle, which is by design. Neither, it seems, can the banks—at least not informally to clear up issues as they occur.
I asked Bank of America how to get them to release my email address and they said it would happen automatically when the account was closed. That turned out to be wrong. I asked CapitalOne how to get them to “take it” and they said that associating an address with the CapOne/Zelle gateway would do the trick. “Last In” would rule, they assured me. Also wrong. Zelle has a problem? No, Jeff had one.
In fact, the most basic tenet of Zelle interbank play—that an email address can only be associated with one bank—isn’t correct either. A Bank of America relationship manager told me about that and explained it; you can only RECEIVE money at one bank at a time, but if you associate multiple accounts with one email address they can all SEND money to that one account. I’ll assume that’s true; he had no reason to make it up.
What I found out this week was that there is no “take it” as CapitalOne had described. When I hooked them up CapitalOne became the second bank in line to use the email address that Bank of America was already using with Zelle. But it couldn’t receive funds, and Bank of America’s instructions that once I closed my BofA account it would get out of the way turned out to be wrong, too; I tried sending money to CapitalOne after the Bank of America account was confirmed closed with a zero balance. That money went to Bank of America, which, yes, un-zeroed the balance.
But it didn’t re-open the account, which is now closed but has a bit of money in it. Or at least that’s what Bank of America claims. I can’t see the account. It is likely still closed, but I can’t confirm the part about the balance.
Zelle Has a Problem
What all of this comes down to may be that Zelle has no problem at all. But Zelle is creating problems. Problems for its partners. Problems for banking customers. Yes, problems for itself, but not as long as the banks keep playing with Zelle and shielding Zelle from we mere mortals. And with no Zelle substitute on the horizon there’s no reason to believe Zelle cares. But there’s a cautionary tale here.
Zelle sits in a perfect position, performing a service for a lot of big and traditionally un-nimble players with very little incentive to leave Zelle for someone else. That said, we’ve seen multiple examples of coulda-shoulda-woulda money exchange services from big companies trying to be your favorite middleman. I stopped caring about Google Wallet years ago, for example. And I’ve never witnessed anyone actually using tap-to-pay with an Apple Watch. Not once. And I live in New York City.
At the end, it all comes down to customer service. So yes, Zelle has a problem and regardless of how it plays out needs to address it.
Not sure you have your customer service issues under control? Let’s talk about it.
Well… ok I guess I want to comment on this blog – which was written on – uhh – no date.
Oh now I get it. I was going to comment on the incompetence of the author – but, the blog doesn’t even have a date on it – so, it has no relevance what so ever. Perhaps it was written 10 years ago. Perhaps it was written yesterday.
So – yes, the author is incompetent and does not know how to do anything probably. So he writes about his incompetent experiences because he is stupid and he doesn’t have anything else to write about.
OK , so I guess he should start with simple things like learning how to put a date on things he writes because without that context his stupid blogs regarding his incompetent use of technology have absolutely no temporal framework.
So, never mind. I was going to explain what the author was doing wrong – but, obviously he probably does everything wrong.
Wow. Why the anger, person-who-hides-behind-a-nickname?
BTW: look at the URL, friend. There IS a date: January 15, 2018.
If you have anything else to add, please feel free.
Nov. 29, 2018
I’m having some of the same issues. I have Bank of America and Capital one. I did not have any problems in Sept. & Oct. 2018. Then on Nov. 2, I started having issues. I get an error message “We’re sorry, but we can’t complete your request at this time. Please try again later.” I have went to the bank and called the bank several times and they still cant fix it. First BoA tells me to call Zelle. Zelle tells me to call the bank. I have uninstalled the apps and reinstalled and still it will not work. The BoA app will not let me add my phone number or email address now. Is anyone else having issues with this?
Jeff, nicely done on mr/ms anonymous. 🙂
My bank doesn’t have Zelle, so I used the debit card option to send a friend some money. Worked great, and would work (I assume) even if my checking account had been re-configured or whatever, FWIW.
Several good points in there, Terry, starting with “not all banks do Zelle”.
There are plenty of Zelle-like options and the truth is (at least in my observation), others like Venmo have a big enough head start that even with all the big banks supporting it Zelle has a long climb ahead of it.
Just went down a hour long rabbit hole with zelle “customer service ” they use the 3 digit on back of card for getting in when forgetting your password. My number changed when I got a new card. Was told to uninstall and start over, at create password, there wasn’t anywhere to type a password. He told me hit continue, got an email from zelle saying account activated, tried to sign in, it wants a password, I didn’t get to create a password. Wants 3 digit code, error message, got nowhere.
I’ll never get that hour of my life back. Uninstalled, I’m done.
Yikes.
You gotta remember (and I’m not actually interested in saying nice things about Zelle) that they aren’t really set up to do anything for you. Their customers are the banks and the way things are designed if the banks are bad at Zelle, you’re kinda hosed.
Interestingly, I had to deal with a Zelle issue this week myself, and had the person at the bank known his stuff it all would have worked out in minutes, on one call. Instead, he referred me to Zelle, they were of no real use beyond referring me back to my bank with a rationale for why, and when I called my bank a second time I managed to get someone who understood more about her employer’s processes and was able to help me.
This remains an in hell with Zelle issue, but it’s less their doing than your bank’s.
Zelle is the current name of a transfer option that originated at least eight years ago. Then it was called Send and Receive Money. Perhaps the writer meant he has used the Zelle app through his bank’s mobile banking app?
I’ve used the transfer method since it was Send and Receive Money, after a change of banks, and I’ve never had a problem.
I checked the Zelle website and it’s possible to contact Zelle with queries or problems.
No question they’ve become easier to contact since this piece about Zelle was published, and I used and continue to use Zelle, myself. But there’s still a “Zelle vs your bank” “responsibility” issue.
Thanks, Janet!
I have Zelle setup with Bank of America and Discover Bank. I can transfer from BofA to Discover, but the other way around just does not work (which is what I want to do). I have talked to Discover support, BofA support, and Zelle support. Discover blames BofA, BofA does not see any incoming transaction, and Zelle say they don’t have access to the data. I.e. nobody is able to really debug the issue and nobody really seems to care. Frustrating to say the least.
Zelle was going well when I used debit card to set up receipt of payments; HOWEVER, when Zelle told me my bank is now using Zelle, I had to go through the banking app instead. December, 2019, funds sent me were “in orbit”. Bank managed to pull funds down and get into my account with much effort, several calls and a few banking days to clear. This month (January) funds were sent and have totally disappeared – the sender’s banking account was debited, but mine was never credited. I received notification from my bank by text that sender sent money January 1st. When I went into my banking online and to the Zelle app and pulled up activity, Zelle noted “Send Failed.” Sender sent proof money is out of there account – my bank is still working on matter, me and sender are both out the money. It has been over 2 weeks now.
Zelle’s problems just seem to keep getting worse, don’t they?
Zelle completely hosed my rental payments for the last year. Now, I’m struggling to get that all settled. What a nightmare! We banking customers never signed up for this nonsense and Zelle’s got no seeming accountability in all this.
Katherine, you DID “sign up”. But you’re right; it’s a mess, Zelle has no real responsibility, and it sure isn’t what you should expect from your bank or a company like Zelle that they do business with!
It’s just Outrageous! And, THIS is why I’ve become a luddite-lol. As an MD, I have to use the electronic health record. Many types of these don’t work as they should. And, someone finely is sending back money she owes me…but is insisting on doing it through Paypal. I try to link paypal to BofA and I get the “we need more information…your security question” Crapola. I give them my cell # to text me, and get NO text. Tried several times. Only have two bars on my cell reception, but I don’t think that’s the problem. I will try to link my Wells Fargo account. I wish she’d just put a stamp on an envelope and send me the money! They SUCK!!
Well the problem with Zelle still has not been resolved. I am experiencing the similar problems. I sent money to my husband and found out his cell phone was associated with another bank account at Fifth Third Bank. He has never had an account with Fifth Third Back. We were told it was probably due to a recycled cell phone number and the previous owner did not close out the account. Of course, my husband has had this number for over five years. I filed a complaint with Chase. Chase found no issue with the process and refered me to Zelle. Zelle referred me back to Chase. So according to Chase, I just lost the money.
I’m having this exact same problem and it is completely maddening! Citibank denies any responsibility and there is no way to actually speak with anyone at Zelle. I will NEVER use Zelle again and will be closing my Citibank accounts. Did you ever get any resolution?
Hi, Maureen.
I hear the story over and over. For ME, yes, I got resolution, by refusing to take “no” for an answer. But clearly I’m doing better than a lot of people. Zelle remains a mess, and the way they do business with your bank is the problem. “no one is responsible”.
I’m having an issue with the fact that I sent money from NFCU to Discover. Found out later Discover is having issues with Zelle and is now not offering Zelle. Was told that the money would be returned within 14 days. Called NFCU, got a Trace No. that showed the money was accepted by someone, but find out who. Called Zelle who said they can’t see anything they’re just a web app. Discover says that bc it wasn’t set up they don’t have any information. In this day and age someone should know where the hell my money is.
Two years since Jeff wrote this and I’m been in the same Hell he described for a month.
$560 sent on 1 July 2020 through the Zelle nightmare used by my bank. Now on 2 Aug 2020, that money is in a Bank of America limbo which was closed 10 years ago.
My bank supposedly conducted an investigation of the issue reporting to me that the transfer I requested was processed exactly as I directed. What I directed was for the payment to be made to a specified person with a particular email. As is I am left “eating” the $560 which appears to be lost in Bank of America’s (BOA) closed accounts fund. I can only imagine that the combined funds from similar situations leaves BOA with millions of dollars they have no business holding.
I say this because the Zelle policy is “undelivered funds are to be returned to the sender’s account within 10 days…” Days… Business days… Whatever! It’s been over a month. I’ve had to pay the $560 using a non-Zelle method and the Zelle method leaves BOA using my money as their asset.
Zelle previously worked. Not anymore. Constant problems with money not getting delivered and just showing pending for days, and than being rejected. Or rejected after 3 or 4 hours. Upon calling your bank, they state they have know idea why as their seems to be no problems with either account (sender or recipient). Their only solution is “to wait a couple days and see if it clears”. I will never use Zelle again as the workers you are paying assume you are a crook. I hope Pay Pal works as that is all I will be using from now on.
On July 01 I used Zelle to transfer money from my Chase checking to my girlfriend’s Chase checking, as I’ve done numerous times before. My girlfriend had changed her phone number since the last time I transferred money to her So she never got the money, even though my account has been debited. I find out today from Chase (not Zelle since their “support” is not for consumers) that Zelle sends the money to whomever Owns the phone number I indicated in my transfer request. So now some stranger has MY money, which was meant for my girlfriend! Does that sound right? Should I notify my Congressperson?
Ha! Sure, make it a governmental thing. Good a plan as any, right?
I thought Zelle was email-address based with phone number as a backup, though.
Well what I’ve learned as a result of all this is that it seems that you can set up your recipients using either their email OR phone OR both. If you have set them up with both then when you send them money you can select them by choosing either their email OR phone (which I think also determines the mode by which your recipient is notified that you’ve sent them money). In my case I had set up my gf with only her phone so that was all I could use. My gripe with Zelle is that it seems that all they did in my case is get my money and a phone number and all they do is check their database of phone numbers and put the money in whatever account they have linked to that phone number. There should be more required to be sure the money goes where it’s intended – like the account number it’s going to, the bank name, the type of account, the name on the account and the recipient email. Am I asking too much?
Are some kind of expert on Zelle or do you work for them?
Not the latter. Not really the former either, but I’ve played with Zelle since they began and I probably know more about Zelle than most people.
I tried to send money with Zelle and this is what it says i need help
Unable to process transaction.
There was an issue with sending your payment. Your account balance will not be affected. Please try again later.
I tried to use Zelle with my TDBnk account to pay someone recenlty. That ended up in a real hell and almost cost me big money in late fees since I use their bill pay service. To put it simply, after setting up the account and set up the money transfer, I got a notification via email a few hours later that there was a problem and my bank account was locked. I called the bank and they wanted me to verify who I was using text message, Only problem was my home phone was only number listed on account so I couldn’t verify it. This resulted in my account being locked for three days, my bill pay notifying me that they reversed payments made and then locked my bill pay account. Now I had to call the bill pay company to get that unlocked. Finally a week later this was all resolved, so I thought!! I talked to my sone one day and found out that his TDBank account was also locked and he never even heard of Zelle before then. 2 weeks later, his is still locked and he has to get a completely new account. Of course tried to contact Zelle and got no where. I did find out that they are having significant fraud issues and given what I read here, I am not surprised because Zelle does not seem to have very many safeguards in place. DO NOT USE THIS PROGRAM!!!
It’s March 7, 2022, and Zelle seems to have solved its phone problem. Apparently you can still contact them IF you used the phone App, but if it was through your bank they insist that is where you need to get answers.
I made a couple payments (8 and 10) days ago which apparently the recipient did not receive. One she said would fail because I had her name wrong though the email was correct. Anybody know whether such a mismatch would cause the payment to be returned? If funds are returned to the sender, how long does that typically take? A suggestion above about a three-way call is a good idea, then the banks can talk to each other without customers’ accounts being exposed and confirm whether the funds are delivered. At the moment, my bank”s customer service number always has an hour delay, and the last three of six times I tried it followed the delay with “sorry, the system is not working” and hung up. I can’t get the intended recipient’s cooperation (i.e., authorizing her bank to talk with mine), so maybe I just got ripped off. If that is how it looks, should my bank be able to determine whether the recipient is the intended recipient?
So … Zelle is getting “better”, but obviously it still isn’t good. Thanks, Tim!
I sent $ to a recipient via Bank of America. Like clockwork, no problems. Changed Zelle account to my credit union. MANY problems. Spent DAYS on customer support with CU. “Send request” kept showing “Pending” for DAYS. After 10 days, 20 hours working with CU (bouncing from banking specialists to Web Support, opening trouble tickets, etc–CU ise U.S. based and really want to/tried to help), one day it just started working. Fixed via CU trouble ticket? Who knows.CU even did a follow up call to me. But even the CU can’t call Zelle!! The CU customer service folks even suggested using Cash App instead! Having read this article, it is clear long-standing problems are NOT fixed.
No question that the issues at Zelle seem like they’ll be resolved … never.
This is what happens when you provide a pure tech solution with no thought to (ok, lots of thought) but only insofar as you want to avoid the issues related to customer service. It feels as though Zelle markets this to the banks as “you get ‘x’ and then can point the customers at us when things blow up” (and we’ll just say “sucks to be you”).
Zelle is truly awful unless you are REALLY careful how you use it. When … let’s be fair, it’s kind of amazingly great.