How to Set Up Recurring Zelle Payments: A Complete Guide

Mike Renaldi

Zelle is often associated with sending money to friends and family. Maybe you want to split the bill at dinner or pay your half of the internet costs that month. It’s become so popular that Zelle has become a verb.What you might not know is that Zelle can also be used by small businesses, so long as their financial institution offers it for your business account.

In this article, we’ll be going over how to set up recurring payments on Zelle, how to manage them, and other alternatives. We’ll also go over the costs of withdrawal so that any fees won’t come as a surprise. Throughout the article, you will also learn about Wise Business which offers a great way for small businesses to make global payments without all the fees.

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What is a Recurring Zelle Payment?

A recurring Zelle payment is a way for businesses to schedule money transfers on a specific schedule. Rather than having a transfer only occur once, like with a one-time payment, a recurring payment happens, for example, on the same day every month or every week. These transactions repeat automatically, so you don’t have to waste time and effort initiating them manually.1

Zelle automatic payments are applicable to a variety of business use cases, whether incoming or outgoing. For example:

  • Providing subscription-based services or products like meal kits, memberships, or software licences, so billing is automated and the customers can simply cancel if they want to.
  • Paying freelancers, contractors, or other types of employees on an ongoing basis.
  • Paying for business software or office spaces so you’re always on time with payments.

Benefits of Recurring Zelle Payments

The recurring payment model is ever-popular nowadays in many sectors, breaking free of the traditional transaction model that is commitment-free but administratively taxing. Here’s why:2

  • Convenience: Payment details only need to be input once, and customers can enjoy your product or service while you can enjoy less admin work and vice versa. They no longer need to remember payment dates and set reminders, which means less room for late payments.
  • Timeliness: Recurring payments are consistent—they’re scheduled and processed when you expect them too and on time, without the need for anyone to intervene.
  • Security: As long as the recurring payment system that your business uses is PCI compliant, these automatic payments are tokenized, storing customer card details on secure servers. Although Zelle doesn’t specify whether it’s PCI-compliant or not, they reported that 99.9% of their transactions between 2022 and 2023 were fraud and scam-free.3,4
  • Improved Customer Relationships: Consumers love convenience, which means automated billing is naturally a preferred way to pay. In a Forrester survey with 750 respondents in the US, Canada, and the UK, 70% said they preferred monthly billing for its cancellation flexibility and ease of budgeting.5

Looking to make a fast and convenient transfer?

Set up scheduled global transfers
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How to Set Up Recurring Zelle Payments

As mentioned, the Zelle platform doesn’t have a native feature for recurring payments—you’ll have to set them up through your financial institution.

1. Check Bank Compatibility

Zelle is compatible with a long list of banks and credit unions, over 2,000 banking apps, to be exact.6 You’ll want to search for your bank on the Zelle site to make sure you can use its services.

2. Log into Your Banking App

Click on the name of your banking institution, and you’ll be taken directly to the website, where you can log in as you would to access online banking. On your respective platform, you can search for Zelle recurring payment options on the dashboard and enroll in the service.

3. Add a Recipient

Now, it’s time to add a recipient, whether a client or customer or a contractor or service provider. So long as the recipient is also signed up with Zelle, you can simply provide their phone number or email address.7

4. Set Up the Payment Schedule

Depending on your bank, there might be different Zelle payment schedules. There could be options including weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, monthly, every other month, quarterly, semi-annually, or annually, where you can select a specific date.8

5. Confirm and Save

The most important part is to check and double-check that you’ve input the correct information and set up the correct payment schedule. This will prevent any mishaps, like sending payments to the wrong person or taking money out of an account at an incorrect date.

Looking to make or receive payments internationally? Learn more below.

Managing Recurring Zelle Payments

If you ever need to edit or cancel a recurring payment, banking apps make it seamless to do this as well.

Editing a Recurring Payment

Perhaps you’ve changed the terms of your contract, or a customer prefers a different payment schedule. Start by navigating to the recurring payments section on your banking platform or app, then select the payment you want to edit. From there, you can update the details and save your changes.

Canceling a Recurring Payment

Canceling works similarly, but is a lot more straightforward. From the recurring payments section, select the payment you want to cancel and confirm the cancellation. This should stop all future payments immediately.

Limitations and Considerations

While Zelle is convenient and presents an easy solution for receiving and sending recurring payments, it does come with considerations, just like any other financial service.

  • Payment Limits: Zelle payment limits can vary depending on the institution you’re with. For example, small businesses at Bank of America, one of the nation's top banks, have a daily limit of $15,000, a weekly limit of $45,000, and a monthly limit of $60,000. While this can be sufficient for some businesses, it might not be for others.9
  • Bank Support: Does your bank support recurring Zelle payments as a business feature, or do they only accommodate one-time transfers to friends and family?
  • Fees: Zelle doesn’t charge any fees for sending and receiving money, even for businesses. However, your bank might charge their own fees, so it’s important to check before you sign up for the service.
  • International borders: Zelle is only available in the United States, which means you’re out of luck if you want to send or receive from those overseas.
  • No other business-specific tools: Zelle doesn’t offer any other business-specific tools other than the ability to make transactions. There aren’t any analytics tools, integrations with other apps, or any other features to help your business.

Looking to make a fast and convenient transfer?

Set up scheduled global transfers
with Wise >>

Alternatives to Recurring Zelle Payments

If you find that Zelle doesn’t align with your business needs, there are other alternatives out there that could do just the trick.

  • Bank Bill Pay Services: Banks offer other bill pay services that let you schedule recurring payments for all sorts of bills, available right on their online platform or app. These services work very similarly to Zelle payments.
  • Other P2P Payment Apps: Venmo, CashApp, and PayPal are all famous examples of P2P payment apps that could provide a similar experience. PayPal specifically has a broad ecosystem of business-specific tools and ways to make payments more seamless, making it a solid option if you’re looking for a more robust recurring payment tool.
  • Manual Reminders: If you’d rather do things the old-fashioned way, setting up manual reminders through apps or a calendar platform can remind you to make payments on specific dates throughout the month or year. The downside to this is that you increase the risk of missed payments and have to do more manual work.

Simplifying Payments with Zelle and Other Methods

Zelle is a simplistic service that focuses on the ease of sending and receiving money. With its stripped-down nature, businesses may enjoy the no-frills convenience, while others might be left wanting more. Zelle recurring payments can eliminate the hassle of manual transfers, letting businesses streamline their cash flow and make transfers so long as you have a recipient phone number or email address. However, its limitations might mean looking for a more robust payment solution like Wise.

FAQ

Can you set up recurring payments with Zelle?

Although Zelle doesn’t offer a recurring payment option natively, many banks and credit unions offer Zelle as a product in their banking ecosystem for individuals and businesses to send and receive payments. Whether recurring payments are part of those services depends on the bank itself.

How do I set up automatic payments on Zelle?

If your bank offers the option to make automatic payments, you should be able to go into the payments section and select a recurring payment option. From there, you can enter your recipient or customer details, the cost of the transaction, and when you’d like to schedule the automatic payment.

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Sources:

  1. What Are Scheduled and Recurring Payments With Zelle®?
  2. The Pros And Cons Of Recurring Billing | Forbes
  3. Best practices for collecting recurring payments | Zoho Billing
  4. What Consumers Like — And Detest — About Subscriptions | Forrester
  5. What Consumers Like — And Detest — About Subscriptions | Forrester
  6. Get Started With Zelle | List of Bank Partners and Credit Unions |
  7. Zelle® | Chase for Business
  8. Can a member set up a Zelle® payment as recurring? | FAIRWINDS
  9. Zelle Transfer Limits| Bank of America

*Please see terms of use and product availability for your region or visit Wise fees and pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information.

This publication is provided for general information purposes and does not constitute legal, tax or other professional advice from Wise Payments Limited or its subsidiaries and its affiliates, and it is not intended as a substitute for obtaining advice from a financial advisor or any other professional.

We make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether expressed or implied, that the content in the publication is accurate, complete or up to date.

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