Zelle soars with $806 billion transaction volume, up 28% from prior year
120 million consumer and small business accounts used Zelle® in 2023
Early Warning Services, LLC, the network operator of Zelle®, drove the popular person-to-person (P2P) service to new heights in 2023 as it provided financial empowerment for millions of Americans, grew its network reach, and led the industry in scam reimbursement efforts.
2023 highlights:
Consumers and small businesses sent 2.9 billion transactions totaling $806 billion in 2023, both up 28% year-over-year.
120 million consumer and small business user accounts leveraged Zelle through their financial institution in 2023.
Q4 2023 was the largest quarter to date, with users transacting more than $219 billion across the Zelle Network®. That means an average of more than $100 million was sent per hour.
"Powered by our unmatched reach through thousands of participating banks and credit unions – and enabled by our continued efforts to enhance security and educate consumers – Zelle soared to new heights in 2023," said Cam Fowler, CEO of Early Warning. "As the digital payments growth engine for the U.S. financial services industry, the Zelle Network remains committed to providing consumers and small businesses a way to quickly and safely pay people they know and trust."
Small businesses sent and received over $200 billion in 2023
Zelle helps eligible small businesses improve their cash flow, reduce the need to use cash or checks, and send and receive payments directly from their banking apps.
Last year, small businesses received 217 million payments through Zelle, totaling more than $100 billion – up 44% and 39%, respectively – from 2022.
In addition, small businesses are increasingly using Zelle for various payments needs, like paying employees, vendors, and office utilities, like office space rent. Small businesses sent 179 million payments totaling $113 billion, up 34% and 29%, respectively, from 2022.
Commitment to security
The Zelle Network, and all network participants, are subject to oversight by federal financial regulatory agencies.
The company's efforts to protect consumers and small businesses are paying off, with less than one-tenth of one percent of transactions reported as fraud or scams in 2023. That percentage continues to get smaller due to a layered security approach, including services like Risk Insights for Zelle, which provides network participants with real-time information to assess potentially high-risk transactions.
In addition, in-app alerts remind users throughout the payments experience to only send money to people they know and trust. In 2023, Early Warning financial institutions cautioned users more than 700 million times before they made payments.
"The impressive Zelle momentum illustrates the trust that consumers have in making P2P payments through their financial institution, and rightfully so," said Julie Conroy, chief insights officer at Datos Insights (formerly Aite-Novarica Group). "Early Warning has been detecting and outsmarting fraudsters for the U.S. banking industry for more than 30 years. Its relentless pursuit in protecting consumers and the industry adds much-needed layers of security to the payments ecosystem."
Educating and empowering banking customers
Through partnerships with organizations like the Better Business Bureau, and the National Council on Aging, the recently launched Scam and Fraud Elimination (S.A.F.E.) Squad educational campaign, Zelle educated millions of U.S. consumers in 2023 alone. Additionally, Zelle provides educational materials that banks and credit unions use to educate their customers.