Zelle is a financial services company that facilitates the transfer of money between banks and credit unions. Zelle reduces the time taken to transfer money across banking institutions. Transferring money from one bank to the other can take several days to complete. With Zelle, the funds reflect in the recipient’s account immediately after the transfer is initiated. Since you can use your bank or credit card balance to send money, the question remains, can you send money through Zelle with a credit card?
If you wonder what credit cards are, then worry not, as I am defining it now for your understanding. A credit card is a payment card that allows you to borrow money from your card issuer. You can get credit cards from a bank or credit union. Credit cards can either be secured or unsecured. Secured credit cards need a security deposit to get a line of credit, while unsecured credit cards require a credit history to get them.
Using a credit card to fund transactions on mobile wallets is usually costly. For example, if you use a credit card on Cash App, the transaction cost is 3% of the transaction amount. When you utilize a credit card to fund PayPal transactions, the transaction fee is 2.9%. If a credit card can be used on Zelle, then how much transaction fee will you have to pay? I will be taking you through all that shortly.
How to open a Zelle account
You can open a Zelle account online using a smartphone, tablet, or computer. If you intend to open a Zelle account to use it with your bank, you first need to check if your bank supports the application. Not all banks and credit unions support Zelle. If your bank or even your credit union does not support Zelle, you can open another account with another bank that works with Zelle.
To get started with Zelle, you need to enter your basic contact details, an email and U.S. phone number, and a Mastercard® or Visa® debit card with a U.S.-based account. Zelle does not support debit cards associated with international bank accounts. Therefore, you should make sure that the bank account or debit card information you provide is purely USA-based.
If your bank or credit card supports Zelle, you can easily find the app on mobile banking or online banking, and you only need to follow a few steps to enroll in the service.
Which banks and credit unions support Zelle?
There are hundreds of banks and credit unions that support Zelle. Some of these institutions include the following.
- ABCO Federal Credit Union
- Abington Bank
- Academy Bank
- ACCESSbank Omaha
- Achieva Credit Union
- ACNB Bank
- Actors Federal Credit Union
- B-M S Federal Credit Union
- Banesco USA
- Bank Central
- BAC Community Bank
- Banc of California
- BancorpSouth
- C&F Mobile Banking
- Cadence Bank
- CAFU
- California Adventist FCU
- California Bank & Trust
- California Credit Union
- Call Federal Credit Union
How to send money on Zelle
Sending money on Zelle is easy. You only need to log into your Zelle account and have the recipient details with you. The following is the step-by-step process of sending money on Zelle.
- Add your recipient’s U.S. mobile number or email address.
- Enter the amount you’d like to transfer. Review the transaction details.
- Add a memo
- Hit “confirm.”
The funds arrive in the recipient’s account within minutes. Apart from sending money to others, you can also request money from others using the above process, but you should request instead of sending this time.
Can you send money through Zelle with a credit card?
As I mentioned earlier, Zelle supports U.S.-based debit cards to fund transactions. Debit cards are payment cards that allow you to use the money on your checking account. But can you use a credit card on Zelle? Zelle does not support credit cards when it comes to transferring money.
Credit cards usually offer cash advances to use on online platforms, and not many financial service providers prefer that way of funding transactions. Zelle is among such companies. Maybe in the future, the company will allow you to use credit cards to fund your transactions.
Does Zelle have any limit when transferring money?
If you use Zelle as an independent app, there are limits on the amount of money you can transfer. You can only send up to $500 per week. However, when using Zelle on banks or credit unions, there is no specific limit on the amount of money you can send. The platform you are using Zelle on can decide the maximum amount of money you can send.
One thing you need to know is that Zelle transfers are free. If there are to be any charges, then they should be on the banks supporting Zelle. A bank or credit card may decide to deduct some fees when you use Zelle.
How do I get a credit card?
You can get a credit card from financial companies such as banks and credit unions. For you to get one, you have to apply online or at a physical branch. Creditors must check your credit scores to determine your creditworthiness.
However, you may opt for a secured credit card that requires you to deposit a certain amount of money in your account. And by the way, you can build credit with a secured credit card to more significant levels as long as you use the card nicely.
How does a credit card work?
Once you successfully apply and get your credit card, you have to activate it either online or at a physical branch to start using it. Once active, you can use it for various kinds of transactions. You can purchase goods and services online and at physical stores, send money to others and withdraw money at an ATM or a bank account.
Since credit cards give you a loan, you have to have to repay it with interest. Credit card issuers charge different kinds of interest rates depending on the number of credit scores you get. If you have low credit scores, you will likely get a credit card with a high-interest rate and vice versa.
You have to pay your credit card debt at the end of every usage cycle. In most cases, you need to pay the debt after the end of every month. Remember that failure to pay in advance can damage your credit history and eventually lower your credit scores. But can you pay a credit card bill with another credit card? It is possible to pay your credit card bill with another credit card when you do a balance transfer.
A balance transfer happens when you choose to transfer all your debts from one credit card to another credit card once you notice that the new credit card has better terms compared to your current credit card. The new credit card issuer then pays the debts of the old credit card, then allows you to repay at a lower or zero interest rate.
Does using Zelle add your credit scores?
You do not grow your credit score when you use Zelle. You can only grow your credit scores once you apply for a loan or credit card. Creditors usually report your loan payment patterns or your credit usage to the credit bureaus.
Credit bureaus are bodies entrusted by the government to keep financial records of borrowers. They usually come up with a credit report and credit scores of borrowers. In your credit report, you can find details such as your full names, identification documents, physical address, loans borrowed or credit cards taken, the amount paid and amount due, and so on.
We have three credit bureaus in the U.S. These include TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. The credit bureaus work independently with each other.
Can I get a credit card for bad credit scores?
You might be asking yourself a question like, which credit card can I get with bad credit? Interestingly you can get a credit card even if you have bad credit scores. You can either get an unsecured credit card for bad credit or secured credit cards.
Unsecured credit cards for bad credit have high-interest rates and low credit limits. Even though credit cards are meant to help you gain credit scores, you might find yourself parting with so much money as interest.
On the other hand, secured credit cards have low-interest rates since you have a deposit that acts as the security. The credit card limit you get depends on the amount of deposit you keep with the card. If you deposit a large amount of money, you get a higher deposit. When your credit scores grow to good values, you can then advance to an unsecured credit card. Your card issuer then avails your deposit in your account for use.
It is important to note that secured credit cards are also suitable for building credit from scratch.
Bottom line
Zelle is a money transfer service that allows you to transfer money between banks. You can also use Zelle with a credit union. Zelle allows you to use your bank or debit card to aid with money transfers. However, you cannot use credit cards on Zelle. Again, using Zelle does not add any credit scores since it is not a loan. Only credit cards and loans can add your credit scores.
