Is Zelle on track to dominate the P2P market?
P2P payments are no longer an everyday essential reserved just for millennials. There has been immense growth in the P2P marketplace in terms of the volume transferred, as well as the number of users on these platforms. Paypal’s Venmo was the first P2P app to gain popularity, but now faces competition as many other services have started popping up. Zelle, launched just one year ago, to the surprise of many, overtook the P2P market quickly with their real-time payment service. In 2017 Zelle processed $75 billion, whereas Venmo came in at less than half of that with $35 billion in transactions. Considering Venmo revolutionized P2P payments, what is it that Zelle has done to gain such a following?
Rapid, Real-Time Payments.
Unlike Venmo, Zelle offers instant payment straight to your bank account. While Venmo might take up to 72 hours to transfers funds, Zelle is able to do so in minutes. This is especially convenient for people who prefer to use P2P to pay larger transactions such as monthly rent and utilities. When splitting the cost of rent, whoever takes on the burden of submitting the payment could be out hundreds of dollars until the transaction is processed. In situations like this, it’s no surprise that Zelle is the frontrunner.
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