Zelle vs PayPal vs Venmo

Trying to decide between various software apps can be overwhelming and can be more stressful when financial transactions come into the picture.

For quite some time, I’ve been relying on Zelle to transfer money to friends and family when necessary. There are several pros to Zelle over PayPal and Venmo including no fees and immediate transfer, but the kicker is that Zelle is associated directly with our banks. That means security and comfort, right? Yea, that’s what I thought.

Enter July 4th weekend. Seven fraudulent Zelle transactions hit my bank account. Some were caught by the bank’s fraud protection system, but some went through and withdrew the funds from my account.

I spent 1-1/2 hours in the bank yesterday with my guy. He got me straight in the end, but man, what a pain — deleted checking account, deleted Zelle account, inactivated debit card, then reestablished and recreated them all. Yea, what a pain. Now the fun begins — reestablishing direct deposits, setting up new bill pay processes, etc., etc., etc. What a pain!

And now the good part. My banker recommended I not setup Zelle again on the new accounts. He said, he’s seen too many reports in the last few months of these fraudulent transactions from his customers.

That’s all I needed to hear. I’m out. Adios, Zelle.

So, where to go from here. I’m not going to Venmo. I. Just. Don’t. Trust. Them. It looks like PayPal is going to be the winner for online transactions with family and friends.

Of course for business, American Express wins, hands down! But on the casual, PayPal is the winner in my house.