FinTech News

Zelle Network Grew to 1,800 Institutions in 2022

A popular peer-to-peer payment service saw even greater growth in 2022 according to their latest report. This week, Zelle announced that the number of new financial institutions joining the network increased by 40% last year. What’s more, 97% of the new additions were institutions with less than $10 billion in assets. In total, the Zelle network now consists of more than 1,800 banks and credit unions.

Elsewhere in its update, Zelle says that customers sent 2.3 billion payments valued at $629 billion in 2022. That marked a 26% increase in transaction volume year-over-year, while the transaction value amount was up 28% compared to 2021.

Zelle also noted that small businesses have increasingly relied on the service to both send and receive payments. In 2022, business owners and freelancers received more than 150 million payments via the service, which was up 77% compared to the year prior. Similarly, the value of those payments saw an 84% rise over 2021, totaling $72 billion.

Among the institutions that joined the Zelle network last year was Varo. The FinTech-turned-full-fledged bank announced the new feature in November. At the time, Varo’s CEO Colin Walsh noted the unique position the startup found itself in, stating, “Adding Zelle to our product lineup is our bank charter in action.”

In a statement looking back at Zelle’s year of growth, Al Ko — CEO of the platform’s parent company Early Warning — said, “Banks and credit unions of all sizes are joining the Zelle Network at a rapid pace because it drives higher engagement with their customers and members and enables competitive parity with large banks via their mobile app.” Ko continued, “The sheer volume sent through our network— more than a trillion dollars in the past two years — shows that consumers and businesses trust Zelle for the financial moments that matter.”

Despite competition from the likes of Cash App, Venmo, and PayPal, Zelle’s anecdotal popularity has continued to shine. Now, that fandom is backed up by data as the number of users and institutions using the service continues to grow. Of course, as other P2P payment services have seen, a rise in usage also means an increase in bad actors — although Zelle says that 99.9% of transactions are sent “without any report of fraud or scam.” As the platform works to keep that number heading in the right direction, we’ll also have to wait and see how many other institutions join the service in 2023.

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