The idea is to boost security and consumer trust in Zelle, the peer-to-peer payment system jointly owned by a consortium of banks, the people said. The pandemic supercharged money-transfer services. Zelle recorded some 1.8b transactions in 2021 totaling $490b, more than double prepandemic levels. Scammers often seek to trick Zelle users into sending them money under the guise of customer support.
“Our team devotes significant time and resources to protecting consumers every day and has done so since the launch of Zelle in 2017,” an EWS spokeswoman said. “Part of our work includes collaborating with our financial-institution participants to evolve and enhance our networkwide rules to better protect consumers.”