I just registered with Zelle through one of my bank accounts this morning so someone can send me a $200 deposit. I get this confirmation email, You have successfully registered for Zelle through CFG Bank, which lets you send money to people you know and trust with a bank account in the U.S. What does it mean “send money”? I can’t receive money here?
I sent the buyer my email for payment and he said he sent the money around noon, but I see nothing. Before asking him to resend it, am I doing anything wrong? Can’t I receive money on Zelle?
You can send and receive, obviously. There are daily limits imposed by the bank and every bank is different, but I’m sure it’s more than $200 so that’s not it.
How much do you trust the sender? You sure he’s not a scammer using someone else’s account?
I use Zelle once or twice a month to instantly transfer money between my own accounts at different banks. I used it a few times with trusted friends and relatives. I would not use it with a stranger.
Sender straightened it out and it and I see the payment in my bank. What are the risks here? Can Zelle claw back the money or can the sender file a dispute to have it returned? I’m only familiar with Paypal.
It has been difficult to impossible to dispute Zelle transactions, but some banks have settled with customers who claimed that payments from their accounts were unauthorized. It was not mentioned whether the banks reversed the Zelle transactions or simply paid out of their own pocket.
Having said that, Zelle should only ever be used for fully trusted transactions, like settling bills amongst friends and family. Anything else is just asking for trouble.
By “FROM” I mean that either a victim’s account was hacked or the victim was tricked into allowing a thief to send money FROM the victim’s account TO an unsuspecting recipient (or a co-conspirator) using Zelle.
If you read the sentence that follows what you just quoted, you’ll know the answer TO your question.
Most of the risks with Zelle are as the sender of the money. If you don’t receive whatever you were buying, there is little recourse. Also if someone were to get into your bank account with Zelle enabled, they could transfer money out with that same lack of recourse.
