Can Zelle Be Charged Back?

With any new payment service, one of the first questions that come to mind is whether you can ask for your money back. That’s known as a chargeback when you use it to make a purchase Unfortunately, Zelle isn’t known for being flexible in this matter, although there are some exceptions.

Zelle’s Chargeback Policy

Let’s start from the beginning. Zelle is a payment service created to facilitate quick payments among friends and relatives. Most people use it to split bills, send money gifts, or lend money to their friends. In most cases, there’s no way to cancel your payment once sent.

However, if you use Zelle with trusted known people, as it was purportedly intended for, you can always ask them to send your money back. As simple as that.

The Only Case When Zelle Can Be Charged Back

As you may know, with Zelle, you can send money both to people who have a Zelle account and those who don’t. That said, if the latter wants to receive the money, they have to create a free Zelle account within 14 days of your payment.

If they haven’t enrolled with Zelle yet, and you change your mind, you can reverse the payment. Here’s what you have to do:

1. Open your online banking app or the Zelle app.
2. Select All Payments.
3. Find the payment you want to cancel.
4. Click on “Cancel This Payment”.

That’s it! The money will be back in your account. However, if the recipient has enrolled with Zelle in the meantime, you won’t even see this option. Payments made between two Zelle users instantly moves from one bank account to another.

On the other hand, after 14 days, if the funds are still not accepted Zelle will automatically return them to your account.

How to Protect Myself from Scammers?

There are a lot of stories about people who bought something on Instagram, only for the seller to disappear on them.

Some people may say that using Zelle for purchases puts you at risk of scams, but that’s only true if you take risks. Here are the three things that you can do to protect your money:

1. Send money only to trusted people: family, friends, landlord, and small local businesses that you’ve done business with. Refrain from using Zelle to buy stuff from strangers.
2. Make sure you enter the recipient’s e-mail address or phone number correctly. Otherwise, your money may get sent to someone else, though you still have a chance to look at the recipient name on Zelle before you hit send.
3. Don’t send large sums of money. If you’re not sure how Zelle works, you might want to try sending smaller amounts of money first.

Are There Any Limits?

Yes, there are limits to the amount of money that you can send daily or monthly.

Every bank can set its limits, which usually vary from $500 to $3500 a day. Contact your bank or google its Zelle policy. You’ll also see the limit when you try to send money

If your bank doesn’t directly support Zelle, you can download the Zelle app and link your Visa or MasterCard debit card. However, you can send only $500 a week with a debit card.

Difference Between a Fraud and a Scam

Is there really a difference though? There is for banking purposes.

If someone hacks your account and uses it without permission, it’s a fraud and banks are required by law to help you get your money back and they may even have to refund it first. They may ask you to file a police report, in addition to changing your password.

On the other hand, if you’re to send money to a scam artist, you’re not going to get what you thought you were getting.

Unlike fraud, you won’t be able to get your money back because you’ve authorized the transaction and that’s the only thing that matters to most banks. Nevertheless, you should still report scammers to your financial institution.

With payment services like credit cards, however, you can only send money to authorized merchants, and that is why you have chargeback protection if anything goes wrong with the purchase.

Stay Safe!

You don’t have to avoid Zelle as it’s one of the fastest payment services today! However, you may only want to use it with people whom you know and trust. Pay for only purchases with a service that offers chargeback protection.

Have you ever had any problems with Zelle? Were you able to get your money back? The comments section is right below.