Zelle Network® Exceeds One Billion Payments in 12 Months, Setting a New Record for the Payments Network

Early Warning Services, LLC, the network operator behind Zelle®, today announced that during the past 12 months (September 2019 – September 2020), the Zelle Network processed more than one billion payment transactions. In Q3 2020, the Zelle Network processed 323 million transactions, totaling $84 billion in money sent — an increase of 17% and 18% quarter-over-quarter, respectively.

“We continue to grow our network, welcoming financial institutions of all sizes. Today, more than 1,000 banks and credits unions are currently contracted to participate on the Zelle Network, including 731 that are live today and processing transactions,” said Al Ko, CEO of Early Warning Services, LLC. “Zelle is available to more than 140 million consumers in their mobile banking apps or in the Zelle app, and is used for the most important life essentials such as sending contactless payments to local businesses and money to friends and family in need.”

Consumers have increased their use of Zelle significantly in the past 12 months, adopting the service for an evolving set of use cases. In its recent Zelle Consumer Payment Survey, the Zelle Network found that nearly three-quarters of consumers surveyed were most likely to use P2P services to provide financial aid to friends and family since the onset of the COVID crisis.

The Zelle Network also saw more than $4.5 billion sent to small businesses and nearly half a billion dollars sent by companies to consumers via the Disbursements with Zelle service.

Partnerships Help to Increase Digital Financial Literacy
With more consumers shifting banking behavior online, Zelle has partnered with leading social change organizations to offer free educational tools. Through its partnership with EVERFI, Zelle has empowered thousands of high-school students in the United States with online financial literacy classes, and, through the nonprofit Older Adults Technology Services

(OATS) Zelle has hosted online community learning sessions on to safely use digital banking tools, including using person-to-person (P2P) payments.

“As the pandemic continues to impact consumer behaviors, it’s more important than ever to help those communities new to digital banking,” said Rose Corvo, Chief Marketing Officer at Early Warning. “This year, we have partnered with OATS and EVERFI and continue to invest significantly in consumer education on how and when to use Zelle, which has helped with adoption but, more importantly, safe banking behaviors.”