A Snafu at Chase Doubles Debits for Zelle Users

[Updated with new information over the weekend] An unknown number of Chase online-banking customers experienced duplicate Zelle debits to their accounts on Friday, while most anecdotal evidence suggests payees received only one payment. Zelle, the online peer-to-peer payment service, is integrated into Chase’s mobile app and online site.

Early Warning Services LLC, which operates the Zelle network, says the issue is not with its system. JPMorgan Chase & Co. had not responded to a Digital Transactions News inquiry Friday. A post on the @Chase account on Twitter acknowledged the issue later. “We’re sorry that some customers are seeing duplicate transactions and fees on their checking account. We’re working to automatically reverse any duplicates and adjust any related fees,” it reads. Chase has said the issue was resolved late Friday into Saturday morning.

The errors came to light early Friday for many users with notifications of overdrafts, quickly followed by social-media posts from apparent accountholders.

“Not sure this is the best place to post this, but Chase/Zelle are having major issues. Many people are seeing scheduled Zelle payments duplicated and wiping out their accounts. Chase customer support is on hold for ‘extenuating circumstances,’” read a post by u/Volition_Trigger on Reddit.com.

“I’m seeing a duplicate charge for a zelle [sic] transaction and my account was overdrawn now,” posted user vanagini in the same Reddit thread. Another user, Running86, said there was a wait of more than 50 minutes to reach a Chase customer-service rep. Others said they were told, once they reached a rep, that the issue would be resolved Friday and related overdraft charges reversed.

It appears the issue is unique to Chase, as online searches on Reddit and Google yielded no other hits.

Zelle, a real-time payments service, has come under fire recently because of a perceived lack of consumer protections. In 2022, a group of U.S. Senators singled out the network for what they argue is a high rate of scams. Scams are seen as cases in which users are induced by fraudsters to authorize transactions.

Earlier this year, Early Warning touted the growth of Zelle, citing 639 million transactions processed for consumers and small business in the first quarter, up 29% over the same quarter last year.