Zelle® is a fast, safe and easy way to send and receive money with people you trust, like your babysitter, your fellow PTA mom, your son’s soccer coach, or your coworker. Whether you just enrolled with Zelle® or have been an active user for a while, there are a few tips you should always keep in mind to ensure you are being safe when sending money.
Money moves fast with Zelle®, directly from bank account to bank account within minutes*. So, it’s important you know and trust the people you’re sending money to.
Why? Because you can’t cancel a payment once it’s been sent, if the recipient is already enrolled with Zelle®. And if you send money to someone you don’t know for a product or service you might not receive (like paying for something in advance), you may not get your money back. Keep in mind that sending money with Zelle® is similar to handing someone cash.
One example of a payment scam is buying event tickets at a price that seems too good to be true from a stranger and never receiving them. If the seller asks you to use Zelle® to purchase the tickets, you should refuse unless the seller is a person you personally know. Also, keep in mind that no one from Cathay Bank will ask you to send them money with Zelle® as a test or to send money to avoid a fraud event.
Neither Cathay Bank nor Zelle® offers a protection program for authorized payments made with Zelle®. So, if you aren’t sure you will get what you paid for, you should use another payment method with purchase protection, such as a credit card.
Did your friend change phone numbers recently? It’s easy for people to change their phone number or email address. When in doubt, contact your friend to verify the email or U.S. mobile number they used to enroll with Zelle® before you hit “Send.” Another good checkpoint for ensuring you're paying the right person is to confirm the first name that is displayed for enrolled emails and U.S. mobile numbers.
If a person has already enrolled a U.S. mobile number or email address with Zelle®, you can’t cancel the transaction, so it’s important you get it right the first time.
If you’d like more information on safely using peer-to-peer payments, check out these articles from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).
*U.S. checking or savings account required to use Zelle®. Transactions between enrolled users typically occur in minutes.
Zelle and the Zelle related marks are wholly owned by Early Warning Services, LLC and are used herein under license
