Zelle

Proponents of real-time payments systems say banks must embrace them given consumer demand for more immediacy and transparency, even if criminals will try to exploit them.

A year after its launch, Zelle’s P2P payment volume has rapidly expanded through usage at the nation’s largest banks. But enabling smaller institutions to offer it to their customers is proving to be more challenging.

Zelle processed 116 million transactions during the third quarter as its payment volume jumped to $32 billion, while Venmo's volume increased 78% to nearly $17 billion.

Zelle processed 116 million transactions during the third quarter as its payment volume jumped to $32 billion, while Venmo's volume increased 78% to nearly $17 billion.

The Zelle network processed 116 million transactions during the July-September 2018 timeframe with a total value of $32 billion in payments.

As Venmo does battle with Zelle and Square for consumers' P2P payments, one thing is clear: Innovation is not cheap.

For bankers and network providers, it’s a given that moving to a real-time payment system like Zelle will lead to an increase in fraud attempts. Here's a look at the ways they're fighting back.

Zelle doesn't require a bank or credit union to participate in its network to allow it to receive funds; so even Zelle holdouts will see some activity on their accounts. This allows credit unions to compare members' demand to usage, and to determine whether signing up with Zelle is worth the trade-offs.

One expert says the U.S. lags behind other countries, but changes are coming soon – and fast.

Zelle is working on ways to ensure that customers can safely pay small businesses as well.