Zelle Readies Stablecoin for First Cross-Border Push

Zelle network operator Early Warning Services plans to launch a proprietary U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin as part of its strategy to expand Zelle person-to-person digital payments beyond the United States.

The ZelleUSD (ZLUSD) stablecoin will support future international payment capabilities, giving U.S. consumers another way to send money to friends and family around the world, the company said in a June 11 press release.

Early Warning Services said it will announce further details about the stablecoin in the coming months.

In the same press release, the company announced that India will be the first country where U.S. consumers can use Zelle to send money to family and friends overseas.

Early Warning Services plans to launch this capability before the end of the year, according to the release.

These moves will bring cross-border capabilities to Zelle, which is owned by seven of America’s largest financial institutions and has become a $1.2 trillion payments network in the U.S., per the release.

The company’s addition of these capabilities was driven by consumer demand for international digital payment experiences as well as financial institution demand for a near-instant cross-border remittances solution, Early Warning Services said in the release.

“Zelle scaled into one of the largest, most transformative payment networks in the United States because of the value it provides to meet consumer demand for fast, innovative and reliable payments,” Early Warning Services CEO Cameron Fowler said in the release. “We believe international payments are at a similar inflection point, and we are expanding to meet consumer demand.”

In a post on LinkedIn, Fowler said these new offerings will enable consumers to “move money across borders as easily as they move money across town” and will help financial institutions “deliver the next generation of payment experiences consumers expect and deserve.”

Early Warning Services announced in February that Americans used Zelle to send more than $1.2 billion in payments in 2025, a figure that was 20% higher than the total in 2024.

That total included $357 billion in payments flowing to or from small businesses, a figure that was up 26% compared to the previous year, the firm said in a press release.