Zelle® Shatters Records with $1 Trillion Sent in a Single Year

Unrivaled growth in 2024 underscores the network's position as a trusted, vital, and valued financial tool for 151 million enrolled user accounts

NEW YORK, Feb. 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Zelle^® today announced that in 2024 the network reached 151 million enrolled users and helped American consumers and small businesses send over $1 trillion—the most money ever sent by a person-to-person payments service in a single year. The total dollar amount sent on the platform increased 27% from 2023, while transaction volume on Zelle totaled 3.6 billion, a 25% increase from the prior year. 

2024 highlights include:

• 151 million consumer and small business accounts are enrolled to use Zelle, an increase of 16 million from 135 million in 2023.
• Zelle transactions grew 25% from 2023 to a total of 3.6 billion, exceeding $1 trillion in annual payments volume for the first time. This is a 27% increase year-over-year in total dollars sent on the platform.
• The fourth quarter was the best in the history of Zelle in terms of total money sent driven by user growth and popular use cases like paying rent and holiday gifting.

"Zelle is not just a popular way to send money, it's a vital tool that's transforming how money moves across America," said Denise Leonhard, general manager of Zelle. "It is the go-to peer-to-peer payment method for millions of hardworking Americans, and this milestone is a testament to the trust they place in us every day. We remain intently focused on expanding access to Zelle because it unlocks opportunity for individuals, small businesses, community banks, and credit unions." 

Zelle is a valuable and needed tool for small businesses—the backbone of the American economy
Small business owners across the U.S. continue to rely on the unique features of Zelle to provide their customers with flexible ways to pay, to settle with a local vendor, or to reward their employees with an on-the-spot bonus that goes directly into their bank account.

In 2024, small businesses continued to be a significant driver of Zelle growth:

• Almost one in four Zelle senders sent a payment to a small business in Q4, totaling 23 million users.
• Small businesses sent or received more than 500 million transactions in 2024, a 32% increase from 2023.
• These transactions totaled $283 billion, a 32% increase from the previous year.

From farmers markets to the local handyperson, Zelle empowers small business owners with a secure and reliable way to get paid and access their funds immediately – so they can reinvest in new supplies, pay their employees, or put food on the table for their families.

Helping community banks and credit unions compete for customers
There are more than 2,200 financial institutions on the Zelle network, 95% of which are community banks and credit unions. Many of these are rural, community, and minority-owned or -led banks in areas of the country where people have fewer banking options. Zelle is an important offering for these financial institutions, helping them to compete and retain customers by providing access to the same technology available to larger banks.

In fact, according to a survey of American consumers and small businesses that use Zelle¹, 74% of surveyed users said Zelle has positively affected the way they feel about their personal bank and one in three Zelle users would open a new account at a financial institution that offers Zelle if their current financial institution stopped providing it.

Helping to protect Americans from scams
In 2024, Zelle empowered over 73 million consumers with information about the risks of fraud and scams. Zelle will continue to lead the way in the fight against scams as a founding member of the Aspen Institute National Task Force for Fraud & Scam Prevention, an effort launched last year to bring together stakeholders across industry, government, and law enforcement to share intelligence and help society stay one step ahead of scammers. To help combat scams and fraud, Zelle has also partnered with organizations like the Better Business Bureau Institute for Marketplace Trust and the National Council on Aging (NCOA) on critical consumer education campaigns.

About Zelle^®
Zelle^® is transforming how money moves, with more than five billion digital payments sent since its launch in 2017. The Zelle^® network connects over 2,200 banks and credit unions of all sizes, enabling consumers and businesses to send digital payments to people and businesses they know and trust with an eligible bank account in the U.S. Money is available directly in bank accounts generally within minutes when the recipient is already enrolled with Zelle^®. To learn more about Zelle^® and participating financial institutions in the Zelle^® network, visit www.zellepay.com. 

¹This consumer research was conducted by Nonfiction Research in partnership with Early Warning Services, LLC and Pereira O'Dell. The data and quotes featured were obtained via Qualitative Interviews (N=24) and Quantitative Surveys (N=1007) from July 2024 through August 2024. Participants were compensated for their time.

SOURCE Early Warning Services, LLC