[ben0x539]

> I also found that Zelle is basically just a front-end for the existing ACH Direct Deposit system. [...] > > tl;dr do not ever use Zelle.

I can't figure out how to do ACH transfers to friends with my credit union, and I've been told Zelle is the solution for that. I guess I should stick to Venmo?

[ISO-morphism]

In the US, Zelle vs. Venmo is comparable to debit card vs. credit card. With Zelle/debit, you're basically mailing cash - it might get lost in transit, your money is gone right away. With Venmo/credit, there's a middleman with a big pile of cash that assumes the risk of money being in-flight, and usually eats fraud/errors as a cost of doing business in exchange for selling data about your spending to advertisers.

[isanengineer]

This exactly. And this is the reason that Venmo or Paypal need to charge fees for commercial transactions, because they're providing a service. What bugs me is that Zelle seems to be marketed as equivalent to those other digital payment platforms, but in reality it's very different.

[salawat]

It's not a front end for ACH. If it were ultimately ACH based, reversals would be no big deal. It'd be business as usual.

[ljlolel]

Yes