Send money with Zelle
Your app is the one-stop center for your users’ finances. They’ll expect to be able to do anything with their money, and thanks to Zelle, that includes sending money. Whether they’re sending money or requesting money be sent, Zelle ensures your users don’t have to stop for cash or leave your ecosystem. The user experience they’re used to, with the features they expect.
It’s easy to get started. They just need to tap Send money with Zelle. This allows the end user to Send a payment, Request a payment, or view their Activity.
Enrollment
If this is a end user’s first time sending money with Zelle they’ll be guided through the enrollment process. We make it simple—the app will guide them through the following steps:
- Accept EULA
- Select contact token
- Select primary account
- Verify contact token
Each check incurs a charge to the FI but in both cases the user will see a message informing them to contact their financial institution. Failing either check will record an event in the user’s Activity feed in People so that the FI can provide appropriate assistance to the user. Institutions can manually override these flags to allow the user to proceed with enrolling the token using the Paycenter Portal.
Select a token
As part of the enrollment process, the end user will be asked to select a token: an email address or phone number. By default the end user can select from the email addresses and phone numbers on file, but the user can freely add a different token as needed. The end user will need to validate their token using a 6-digit token delivered to the email address or phone number they select.
As of summer 2024, when the user attempts to enroll with a phone number, PayCenter will run two checks to ensure that the phone number is valid.
- Verify that the mobile number is a valid U.S. phone number. VOIP numbers (such as Google Voice) are not allowed and fail this verification check.
- Verify that the number belongs to the user. Typically this means that the name that the mobile carrier has associated with the phone number does not match the name of the account holder. However, institutions can control the rules for verification in the Paycenter Portal.
After verifying that the selected token is valid, additional checks will occur and determine what the user sees next. If the selected token has been used with Zelle already, any pending payments or payment requests will be shown to the end user after the token is entered. If the token is associated with a different financial institution, the end user will be prompted to switch the token to be associated with your financial institution.
Setting a primary account
As part of the enrollment process, the end user will be prompted to select a primary account from their valid accounts. This will be the default selection when the end user sends a payment or requests a payment, but all valid accounts will be available when the payment or request is created.
Creating a payment or payment request
Whether a an end user is paying someone or requesting payment from someone, the process is more or less the same. And no matter which way the payment is going, the process is simple. As always, the app will guide them where they need to go.
Selecting a recipient
Whether the end user is selecting a recipient for a payment or for a payment request, the process is the same. Recipients are stored in an end user’s contact list. For mobile end users, the app will ask permission to import contacts from their phone’s contact list to populate a starting list. For those without an preexisting contacts, end users can add new contacts with a first name, last name, and a phone number or email address. If the supplied email or phone number already exists for a Zelle user, but the names do not match, the end user will be informed of the mismatch and provided the name on file for that end user before allowing them to send a payment or a request.
Adding a new contact will send a confirmation email to the end user, and all payments to a first-time contact will be treated as a high risk action, requiring the end user to re-authenticate before sending.
Entering an amount
The amount screen provides the name of the recipient, as well as the default account, its balance, and the option to change to any other valid account. For payments, this represents the account the payment will be taken from. For payment requests, this represents the account the payment will be deposited to.
Reviewing the payment or request
The review screen provides all relevant information before submitting the payment or request:
- Amount
- Recipient name
- Recipient phone number or email address
- An optional note to send with the payment or request
After tapping Send, the end user will be shown an animated processing screen until the payment or request can be confirmed. After the confirmation screen is shown, the end user can safely navigate away or close the app.
Viewing activity
The end user can also view a history of all Zelle payments within the app. The Activity screen shows all pending and past requests and payments, including the following information:
- Name of recipient
- Amount
- Request/Payment status
- Associated notes
For pending requests sent to the end user, the end user can decline or send money directly from the Activity screen.
This screen also shows the end user all enrolled email addresses and phone numbers. The end user can add more email addresses or phone numbers as needed.
Accepting a request
Requests for money can be accepted or declined within the activity menu. Upon accepting a request, the end user can send money to the requester directly from the activity menu, with the contact token being selected automatically.
After tapping Send $X.XX, the end user will be taken to the Review & send screen if the requester is already a contact. If they are not an existing contact, the end user will be prompted to first verify their password.
Notifications
End users will receive notifications (email and/or SMS) for both inbound payments and requests for payments. Because these alerts are sent by Zelle and Banno, notifications won’t display in the Users messages section in Banno People.
Managing payment profiles
End users can manage the tokens associated with their Zelle profile, including changing the account connected to a token or deleting the token altogether.
To change the funding account on a token, go to Manage payment profiles and select the token you wish to modify. Then click or tap the name of the funding account that is currently connected with the token and select a new account. Only accounts eligible for use with Zelle will display.
To delete/unenroll a token, go to Manage payment profiles and select the token to be deleted. Then click Delete and unenroll from Zelle and confirm your selection. If you delete the last enrolled token, you will be brought back to the main Zelle enrollment screen.
Zelle ready contacts
Zelle Ready Contacts is a way to identify users that are already enrolled with Zelle. Sending and receiving funds from these individuals will process more quickly as the user does not need to enroll for the first time. Zelle Ready Contacts will show with a Z badge over the user’s profile picture or initials.
How it works
Zelle Ready Contacts displays a Z icon over avatars for contacts already enrolled with Zelle. Visible anywhere that contacts can be displayed or accessed, this Z badge will help the user identify the correct contact that they wish to interact with. To make finding those contacts already enrolled in Zelle even faster, mobile users have the additional ability to see which of the contacts on their device are already enrolled by the optional syncing of device contacts.
Mobile device sync
Android and iOS devices have additional capabilities for Zelle Ready Contacts. The first time a user launches Zelle on a device, they will be informed of the new Zelle Ready Contacts feature and asked if they wish to grant the app access to their device contacts. Granting access to device contacts enables the application to pull all contact data from the device and send it to Zelle each time Zelle is opened. Contacts that are enrolled with Zelle but that the user has never sent/requested money to/from will appear in a My Zelle ready contacts section at the bottom of the Select Recipient screen. Any contacts that have already been interacted with in Zelle will appear in the My contacts section with a Z badge over their avatar.
Activity events
When user’s take actions within Zelle, FI employees can expect to see the following events in the user’s Activity feed in People.
Verification code sent
This event captures when a verification code has been sent to the end user when enrolling a new token with Zelle. The email address/phone number of the token that the code was sent to will be shown.
Example event
Sent verification code for Zelle to sampletoken@zelle.com
Successful token verification
This event captures when the user successfully verifies ownership of the email address/phone number when enrolling a new token with Zelle. The email address/phone number of the token that was enrolled will be shown.
Example event
Successfully verified sampletoken@zelle.com for Zelle
Unsuccessful token verification
This event captures when the user fails an attempt to verify ownership of the email address/phone number when enrolling a new token with Zelle by entering an invalid verification code. The email address/phone number of the token attempting to be enrolled with Zelle will be shown.
Example event
Failed to verify sampletoken@zelle.com for Zelle
Invalid mobile number
This event captures when the user attempts to register a mobile phone number as a token and the provided number was flagged as not a valid U.S. phone number. VOIP numbers (such as Google Voice) are not allowed.
Example event
Unable to verify (555) 555-5555 for Zelle® enrollment. User entered an invalid, non-US phone number. Error code 865.
Mobile token failed identity check
This event captures when the ownership of the provided phone number cannot be verified. Typically this means that the name that the mobile carrier has associated with the phone number does not match the name of the account holder. However, institutions can control the rules for verification in the Paycenter Portal.
Example event
Unable to verify (555) 555-5555 for Zelle®. The owner's name for the phone number entered doesn't match the name of the account holder. Error code 866.
Enrolled new token
This event captures when the user has successfully enrolled a new token with Zelle. It will show the ID of the token, the account nickname, and the masked account number.
Example event
Enrolled (555) 555-5555 for Zelle using primary account Checking (x0000000)
Deleted token
This event captures when the user deletes/unenrolls a token. The email address/phone number of the token will be shown.
Example event
Unenrolled (555) 555-5555 for Zelle
Update funding account for token
This event captures when the user changes the funding account that a token is connected to. The email address/phone number of the token will be shown as well as the details of the old and new accounts.
Example event
Account updated for (555) 555-5555 for Zelle from primary account Checking (x0000000) to secondary account Checking (x1111111)
Send funds
This event captures when the user has successfully sent funds to another user. The email address/phone number of the token the funds were sent to will be shown.
Example event
Sent $1.23 with Zelle to Jane Doe at (555) 123-4567
Failed to send funds
This event captures when there was a problem sending funds in Zelle. It will show the underlying error code that can be used by FI employees to assist with resolving the error.
Example event
Failed to send money with Zelle due to error code 123
Zelle Ready Contacts device sync
This event captures when making a sync of device contacts, meaning the user has launched Zelle and granted the application access to the contacts. The event captures the number of tokens on the device as well as the the number of U.S. phone numbers and email addresses that were sent to Zelle. One contact may have multiple tokens if the user has multiple U.S. phone numbers and/or email addresses for the contact in their device.
Example event
Synced 32 of 38 device tokens.
FAQ
- Can an end user send money to themselves using Zelle?
- Zelle sends money to a specific Zelle account, which is tied to an email address. As such, an end user must send money via Zelle to an account with a different email address. End users wishing to send money to or from their own account at a different financial institution should utilize the external transfers feature instead.
- Why do I not see a My Zelle ready contacts section?
- This section can be missing for a few reasons:
- Access to device contacts has not been granted for the application
- None of the user’s contacts are enrolled with Zelle
- It is taking a while for the user’s contacts to be processed with Zelle. Trying again in a 5-10 minutes should resolve the issue.
- How do I tell if the user has granted access to the device’s contacts?
- Once a user has granted access to their device contacts, a sync of their contacts will occur and trigger the history event mentioned above. If this event is not present in the user’s Activity feed the most probable cause is they have not properly granted access to their device contacts.
To check the permissions on iOS, go to Settings > FI’s banking app. The Contacts item should be visible and enabled (green). To check the permission on Android, go to Settings > Apps > FI’s banking app > Permissions. Contacts should display within the Allowed section. - How do I tell if a sync of the user’s device contacts is happening?
- Once a user has granted access to their device contacts, a sync of their contacts will occur and trigger the history event mentioned above. This history event can be seen by filtering the user’s Activity feed to the Zelle category.
- Why are the number of tokens in the history event different?
- When syncing device contacts, the application attempts to sync every phone number and email of every contact. However, this list gets filtered prior to sending it to Zelle and only syncs U.S. phone numbers and email addresses.