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Zelle, the peer-to-peer payment service from Early Warning Services LLC, says U.S. consumers sent more than $1.2 trillion in payments using the service in 2025, a 20% increase from 2024. Zelle first surpassed $1 trillion in 2024.
That comes on 4.2 billion transactions, a 16% increase from 3.6 billion transactions in 2024. Zelle says an average of $3.4 billion was moved daily in 2025. December was especially busy as 100 million bank and credit union accounts were tapped to send money, the highest monthly use to date, it says.
December wasn’t the only record-setting month. In August, more than $9 billion was sent in a single day, a 12% increase over the previous largest tally.
It wasn’t just consumers making use of Zelle’s P2P payments service. Its small-business efforts were aided with the September debut of its small-business tag, enabling small businesses to claim a custom handle that directs customer payments straight into the merchant’s eligible bank or credit union account. In 2025, nearly 30% of all dollars on the Zelle network flowed to or from a small business.
There were 647.6 million small-business transactions in 2025, up 23.5%, and $357 billion in small-business payments, with 7.7 million small businesses enrolled in Zelle.
Zelle also is continuing to enroll more banks and credit unions in the network. In January, Zelle said its networks reached 80% of U.S. bank and credit union accounts. Its resellers include Fiserv Inc., Bank of NY Mellon Corp., and Worldpay, a unit of Global Payments Inc.
Early Warning also notes that consumers are adapting their use of Zelle. While rent, child care, and sharing of utility bills remain popular categories, consumers are using Zelle for major events, such as sharing ticket or transportation costs to attend a concert. Some are using Zelle for beauty and self-care services, and casual social payments among friends.
“Zelle is powering America’s consumers and small businesses, enabling reliable, large-dollar money movement for essential living expenses in an evolving American economy,” Denise Leonhard, Zelle general manager, says in a statement.
