- Zelle discontinued its standalone app on Tuesday, as only 2% of its 151 million users’ transactions occurred there, with most preferring bank apps, following a shift from its 2017 launch by 30 banks to rival Venmo and others.
- The service, now used by over 2,200 banks and credit unions, processed a record $1 trillion in 2024, but users of the shuttered app must re-enroll through their bank to continue, a change Zelle announced last year.
- Despite a dropped CFPB lawsuit claiming $870 million in fraud losses since 2017, Zelle’s growth reflects strong demand for bank-integrated payments, reinforced by its dismissal of the allegations as meritless amid Trump’s March agency overhaul.
Zelle, the person-to-person payment service that processed over $1 trillion in transactions in 2024, has discontinued its standalone app as of Tuesday, reflecting a shift in how its 151 million users engage with the platform. Launched in 2017 by a consortium of about 30 banks to compete with Venmo, Cash App, and Apple Pay, Zelle initially offered its own app to serve customers whose banks hadn’t yet integrated the service. Today, with over 2,200 banks and credit unions now participating, the company notes that only 2% of transactions occur through the standalone app, while the vast majority of users access Zelle seamlessly via their bank’s website or mobile app, a trend that renders the separate app obsolete.
The decision to shut down the app, announced last year, aligns with Zelle’s evolution into a cornerstone of digital banking, driven by consumer demand for a trusted, bank-integrated payment option. Users who relied on the standalone app – having been notified through emails and in-app messages – must now re-enroll through their participating financial institution to continue sending and receiving funds. Zelle’s growth since 2017 underscores its success, with the company touting the $1 trillion milestone as the highest annual total ever recorded by a peer-to-peer payment service, highlighting its role in facilitating secure transactions directly from insured bank accounts. This widespread adoption by financial institutions has diminished the need for a standalone platform, streamlining the user experience within existing banking ecosystems.
Despite its achievements, Zelle faced scrutiny last year when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, under then-President Joe Biden, sued its operator and three major banks – JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Bank of America (BAC), and Wells Fargo (WFC) – alleging that unchecked fraud cost customers more than $870 million since the service’s inception. The CFPB claimed these institutions failed to adequately protect users, allowing fraudulent activities to proliferate. Zelle dismissed the lawsuit as “meritless,” and it was ultimately dropped in March following President Donald Trump’s directives to overhaul the CFPB’s priorities. This legal reprieve, combined with Zelle’s robust transaction volume and integration into over 2,200 financial institutions, positions it as a resilient player in the competitive digital payments landscape, even as it phases out its original app to focus on bank-driven access.
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