How to Use Zelle: Send and Receive Money in 6 Steps

Open the mobile app for your bank. Zelle is built into hundreds of US banks and credit unions, so most people won't need a separate app. Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Capital One, Citi, US Bank, PNC, and Truist all have Zelle inside the app.

Look for the three-line menu icon in the top corner of your bank app and tap it. Find an option called Pay with Zelle, QuickPay with Zelle, or Send Money with Zelle. The exact wording varies by bank but the feature is the same. Not sure if your bank supports Zelle? Check the bank list at zellepay.com - it covers every supported bank and credit union.

Tap Send Money under QuickPay with Zelle. You'll see three options inside the menu: send money, request money, or split a bill. The first time you use Zelle, your recent contacts list will be empty - that's normal.

Tap Add to add a new person. You can pull someone in from your phone contacts or type their name and contact info directly. Zelle only needs one of two things: the person's email address or their US mobile phone number. That's how Zelle finds them in the network.

Type in the dollar amount you want to send. If your bank has more than one checking or savings account, tap the Pay From line to pick which one the money comes out of.

You can schedule the payment for today or set it to repeat weekly or monthly - handy for splitting rent with a roommate. Add a memo too if you want. Up to 200 characters explaining what the money is for. Tap Done when the amount looks right.

Double-check the phone number or email address before you tap Send. Zelle payments cannot be cancelled or reversed once they go through. If you send $500 to the wrong number, that money is gone unless the stranger on the other end agrees to send it back.

Use Zelle only for people you know and trust. Family, close friends, your kid's babysitter, your landlord. It is not built for paying strangers for goods or services - there's no buyer protection like Venmo Goods and Services or PayPal. Tap Send Money and confirm. If the recipient isn't registered with Zelle yet, they'll get a text or email showing them how to sign up and claim the money.

Receiving money works the same way as sending. Open QuickPay with Zelle again and tap Request & Split Money this time instead of Send Money. Pick the person from your recent contacts or add them by phone or email.

Type in the amount you're owed, pick the bank account you want the deposit to land in, and tap Request Money at the bottom. The other person gets a notification asking them to approve. Once they tap send, the money shows up in your account within minutes if their bank is also on the Zelle network. One or two business days if not.

If your bank doesn't have Zelle built in, download the standalone Zelle app from the App Store or Google Play. Open it and enter your US mobile number to either sign in or sign up.

The app asks you to find your bank. Type the name - if Zelle finds it, the app sends you back to your bank's app to use Zelle there. If your bank isn't listed, tap Don't see your bank, enter your email for a verification code, and link a debit card to the standalone Zelle app instead. Sending and receiving work exactly the same as the in-bank version after that. Same speed, same limits, same trust rules.