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Zelle, the peer-to-peer payment service launched in 2017, is testing a potential new use case with the announcement of a bill-payment pilot with Truist Financial Corp.
The pilot will look at how consumers could use Zelle to pay recurring credit card bills, with the potential for other bill payments, such as rent, utilities, and auto payments, later, directly to billers.
Zelle, which is owned by Early Warning Services LLC, says the pilot marks a shift from technical validation to everyday application. Truist, based in Charlotte, N.C., has more than 1,900 brands and counts 15 million clients.
The expectation from the pilot is that it will provide more data for the timing of bill payments, which is a bigger issue than the speed of the transaction, Chris Ward, Truist head of enterprise payments, says in a statement. “Early testing aims to demonstrate how real‑time confirmation and alias‑based payments can deliver clearer outcomes for consumers and more predictable flows for billers,” Ward says. It could make bill payment more predictable for each party.
Zelle says traditional bill payment methods may have processing delays that could result in late fees or service interruptions. A 2025 Federal Reserve report on households found that 17% were unable to pay their bills in full in the prior month. The 2025 U.S. Household Bill Pay Report from doxo found that household bills account for 26% of household spending.
Zelle says the test with Truist could yield more data about when payments are received and confirmed and improve security because of the elimination of the need to share an account number. It also will examine posting and reconciliation timing and how funds might be available quicker to pay bills and reduce bill payer stress over due dates.
Zelle says the Truist pilot is part of its Zelle Forward program to explore new use cases for the service. The first was a collaboration with Bank of America Corp. to process charitable disbursement from Donor Advised Funds, an account maintained by a charitable organization.
In 2025, Zelle handled more than $1.2 trillion in payments, a 20% increase from 2024.
