Zelle Transaction Volumes Hit $49B, Spike 73 Pct YOY

Zelle’s third-quarter results show that its year-over-year payment values increased by 58 percent, while transaction volume rose by 73 percent.

In addition, Early Warning Services, the network operator behind Zelle, announced that $49 billion was sent through the Zelle Network on 196 million transactions during Q3 2019.

More than 600 financial institutions are currently contracted to participate on the Zelle Network, including 254 that are processing transactions, as well as the 5,516 banks represented by their customers using the Zelle app.

“Today, one in two adults with a U.S. bank account have access to Zelle in their mobile banking app,” Lou Anne Alexander, group president, payments solutions at Early Warning, said in a press release. “Consumers are turning to Zelle through their financial institution’s bank app, as a convenient way to pay each other without needing to download another app. By connecting financial institutions of all sizes, we have enabled consumers to send fast payments to friends and family. Thanks to our partners, we are changing the way money moves today and influencing how it moves in the future.”

Just last week Bank of America revealed that it saw a 76 percent year-over-year increase in Zelle payments in Q3. During the quarter, consumers made 80.8 million payments worth $20.8 billion using Zelle — and that number is expected to grow as we head into the 2020s. In an interview last month with PYMNTS, Jeff McCrory, director of electronic payments for Fiserv, explained that P2P payments allows participating financial institutions or payment services providers the ability to meet consumers on their own digital terms and stand out from the competition.

“Financial institutions are competing in experience,” McCrory said. “To differentiate themselves, financial institutions are transforming themselves into consumer experience providers.”

In addition, peer-to-peer (P2P) payments can offer lower costs than checks — a payment method that can, McCrory said, cost between $6 and $8 to process if one takes into account all those costs of sending and accepting checks.