Zelle® and Truist Pilot Fast, Reliable Bill Payments

Second Zelle^® Forward initiative focuses on greater payment certainty for one of the most common household transactions

Zelle^® announced a pilot with Truist Financial Corp. to evaluate the use of Zelle for bill payments, with Truist teammates participating in early testing ahead of broader consumer availability. The effort explores how greater payment certainty could help simplify one of the most common — and often stressful — financial tasks for consumers.

This pilot is part of Zelle^® Forward, the network’s initiative focused on expanding Zelle into practical, real-world payment use cases, with Truist serving as the lead pilot partner for bill payments. After more than $1.2 trillion was sent using Zelle last year, the pilot examines how consumers could use Zelle to pay recurring credit card bills — with the potential for other bill pay applications such as rent, utilities, mobile services and auto payments — directly to billers with greater confidence around timing and confirmation.¹

This work marks a shift from technical validation to everyday application — bringing Truist’s earlier milestone as the first financial institution to send and receive alias-based requests for payment with real-time settlement into a consumer-facing network. Testing now focuses on end-to-end predictability, using fast confirmation and posting behavior to support consistent outcomes for consumers and billers across routine bill payments.

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“The problem with bill pay isn’t speed — it’s certainty,” said Chris Ward, head of Enterprise Payments at Truist. “Trust is built on knowing when a payment is received and how it posts, which is why we apply simplicity, speed, safety and smart execution, with a purpose-driven commitment, to meet this high‑frequency household need. Early testing aims to demonstrate how real‑time confirmation and alias‑based payments can deliver clearer outcomes for consumers and more predictable flows for billers.”

Traditional bill payment methods can involve processing delays that contribute to missed deadlines, late fees or service interruptions. In 2024, 17% of adults reported not paying all their bills in full in the prior month, highlighting the ongoing financial pressure many households face.²

The pilot points to several ways bill payments could function differently than traditional methods:

• Improve certainty around when payments are received and confirmed
• Strengthen transparency and security by eliminating the need to share account numbers
• Support more predictable posting and reconciliation for routine payments
• Accelerate access to funds for billers once payments are made
• Reduce stress and uncertainty associated with due dates

In March, Zelle launched Zelle^® Forward, an initiative focused on expanding the network into new, practical payment use cases in partnership with participating financial institutions.

“Zelle^® Forward is about pushing beyond what’s possible today and we are proud to partner with Truist on this latest effort,” said Denise Leonhard, general manager of Zelle. “We’re focused on solving real problems – like the friction that comes with paying bills – and delivering a fast, reliable experience that consumers and businesses can count on.”

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