Using Zelle®

Zelle^® is a fast, safe and easy way to send money directly between almost any bank or credit union account in the U.S., typically within minutes. With just an email address or U.S. mobile phone number, you can send money to people you trust, regardless of where they bank¹

You can send, request, or receive money with Zelle^{® 2}. To get started, log into PenFed’s online banking or mobile app and select “Send Money with Zelle^®”. Enter your email address or U.S. mobile phone number, receive a one-time verification code, enter it, accept terms and conditions, and you’re ready to start sending and receiving with Zelle^®.

To send money using Zelle^®, simply select someone from your mobile device’s contacts (or add a trusted recipient’s email address or U.S. mobile phone number), add the amount you’d like to send and an optional note, review, then hit “Send.” In most cases, the money is available to your recipient in minutes¹.

To request money using Zelle^®, choose “Request,” select the individual from whom you’d like to request money, enter the amount you’d like, include an optional note, review and hit “Request”³. If the person you are requesting money from is not yet enrolled with Zelle^®, you must use their email address to request money. If the person has enrolled their U.S. mobile number, then you can send the request using their mobile phone number.

To receive money, just share your enrolled email address or U.S. mobile phone number with a friend and ask them to send you money with Zelle^®. If you have already enrolled with Zelle^®, you do not need to take any further action. The money will be sent directly into your PenFed account, typically within minutes¹.

It’s easy — Zelle^® is already available within the PenFed mobile app and online banking! Check our app or sign-in online and follow a few simple steps to enroll with Zelle^® today.

Your email address or U.S. mobile phone number may already be enrolled with Zelle^® at another bank or credit union. Call our member support team and ask them to move your email address or U.S. mobile phone number to PenFed so you can use it for Zelle^®.

Once member support moves your email address or U.S. mobile phone number, it will be connected to your PenFed account so you can start sending and receiving money with Zelle^® through the PenFed mobile app and online banking. Please call PenFed member support toll-free at 1-844-592-0711 and select Option 4 for assistance.

When you enroll with Zelle^® through the PenFed app, your name, the name of your bank/credit union, and the email address or U.S. mobile number you enrolled is shared with Zelle^® (no sensitive account details are shared – those stay with PenFed). When someone sends money to your enrolled email address or U.S. mobile number, Zelle^® looks up the email address or mobile number in its “directory” and notifies PenFed of the incoming payment. PenFed then directs the payment into your  PenFed account, all while keeping your sensitive account details private.

Keeping your money and information safe is a top priority for PenFed. When you use Zelle^® within our mobile app or online banking, your information is protected with the same technology we use to keep your PenFed account safe.

You can send money to friends, family and others you trust¹ even if they have a different bank or credit union.

Since money is sent directly from your PenFed account to another person’s account within minutes¹, it’s important to only send money to people you trust, and always ensure you’ve used the correct email address or U.S. mobile number.

If you don’t know the person or aren’t sure you will get what you paid for (for example, items bought from an online bidding or sales site), you should not use Zelle^®.

These types of transactions are potentially high risk (just like sending cash to a person you don’t know is high risk). Neither PenFed  nor Zelle^® offers a protection program for any authorized payments made with Zelle^® – for example, if you do not receive the item you paid for or the item is not as described or as you expected.

Zelle^® is a great way to send money to family, friends, and people you are familiar with such as your personal trainer, babysitter or neighbor¹.

Since money is sent directly from your PenFed account to another person’s account within minutes¹, Zelle^® should only be used to send money to friends, family and others you trust.

Neither PenFed nor Zelle^® offers a protection program for any authorized payments made with Zelle^® – for example, if you do not receive the item you paid for or the item is not as described or as you expected.

Some small businesses are able to receive payments with Zelle^®. Ask your favorite small business if they accept payments with Zelle^®. If they do, you can pay them directly from your PenFed mobile app using just their email address or U.S. mobile number.

Neither PenFed nor Zelle^® offers a protection program for any authorized payments made with Zelle^®, so you should only send money to people (and small businesses) you trust. Also, always ensure you’ve used the correct email address or U.S. mobile number when sending money.

In order to use Zelle^®, the sender and recipient’s bank or credit union accounts must be based in the U.S.

For members  in Puerto Rico, if you have trouble registering with your US mobile phone number, try using an email address instead.

You can only cancel a payment that is for a future date or if the person you sent money to hasn’t yet enrolled with Zelle^®. To check whether the payment is still pending because the recipient hasn’t yet enrolled, you can go to your activity page, choose the payment you want to cancel, and then select “Cancel This Payment.”

If the person you sent money to has already enrolled with Zelle^®, the money is sent directly to their account and cannot be canceled. This is why it’s important to only send money to people you trust, and always ensure you’ve used the correct email address or U.S. mobile number when sending money. 

If you sent money to the wrong person, we recommend contacting the recipient and requesting the money back. If you are not able to get your money back, please call our member support team at 1-844-592-0711 and select Option 1 for assistance.  

PenFed doesn’t charge any fees to send or receive money using Zelle®. All you need is an eligible PenFed checking or savings account. However, when using Zelle® on a mobile device, your mobile carrier’s message and data rates may apply.

Send limits are set by PenFed. You can view your daily and 30-day limits in the payment screen by selecting the question mark next to Limits. A text box will appear to show the remaining amount available for sending in the current 24-hour period.

There are no limits to the amount of money you can receive with Zelle^®. However, remember that the person sending you money will most likely have limits set by their own financial institution on the amount of money they can send you.

You can find a full list of participating banks and credit unions live with Zelle^® here.

If your recipient’s bank or credit union isn’t on the list, don’t worry! The list of participating financial institutions is always growing, and your recipient can still use Zelle^® by downloading the Zelle^® app for Android and iOS.

To enroll with the Zelle^® app, your recipient will enter their basic contact information, an email address and U.S. mobile number, and a Visa^® or Mastercard^® debit card with a U.S. based account (does not include U.S. territories). Zelle^® does not accept debit cards associated with international deposit accounts or any credit cards.

Yes! They will receive an email or text message notification via the email or U.S. mobile number they used to enroll with Zelle^®.

If you have already enrolled with Zelle^®, you do not need to take any further action. The money will be sent directly into your PenFed account, typically within minutes¹.

If you have not yet enrolled with Zelle^®, follow these steps:

1.    Click on the link provided in the payment notification you received via email or text message.

2.    Select PenFed.

3.    Follow the instructions provided on the page to enroll and receive your payment. Pay attention to the email address or U.S. mobile phone number where you received the payment notification - you should enroll with Zelle^® using that email address or U.S. mobile number to ensure you receive your money.

Money sent with Zelle^® is typically available to an enrolled recipient within minutes.

If you send money to someone who isn’t enrolled with Zelle^®, they will receive a notification prompting them to enroll. After enrollment, the money will be sent directly to your recipient’s account, typically within minutes.

If your payment is pending, we recommend confirming that the person you sent money to has enrolled with Zelle^® and that you entered the correct email address or U.S. mobile phone number.

If you’re waiting to receive money, you should check to see if you’ve received a payment notification via email or text message. If you haven’t received a payment notification, we recommend following up with the sender to confirm they entered the correct email address or U.S. mobile phone number.

Still having trouble? Please give the PenFed member support team a call toll-free at 1-844-592-0711 and select Option 4 for assistance

You can register your PenFed account with a U.S. mobile number or email address if your contact information is already enrolled with Zelle® at another financial institution. You can also call our member support team at 1-844-592-0711 and select Option 4 for assistance.

If you are already enrolled in Zelle® and you’d like to add additional contact methods, you can do so in the Zelle® Settings page both on the PenFed mobile app and online banking.

You should have received a payment notification via email or text message for the money that was sent to you. If you received a payment notification at an alternate mobile phone number or email address, you can enroll that alternate mobile phone number or email address under Zelle® Settings.  If you did not receive a payment notification, follow up with the sender to make sure they used your correct information.

If the correct contact information was used, please call our member support team at 1-844-592-0711 and select Option 4 for assistance.

Please check your Zelle® alert settings to make sure they are set up correctly in the PenFed mobile app and in online banking.

To send money with Zelle®, you will need to have the funds available in your account. If you don’t have enough money in your account to cover the amount you would like to send, you can add more money into the account you're sending from, use a different PenFed checking or saving account that has sufficient funds or send a smaller amount with the available funds in that account.