If you’ve been nervous to try it, you’re right. It’s right in the same line of hacker fire as credit card fraud and forged checks. Banks are required by law to refund any unauthorized withdrawals from our accounts. However, they are not required to refund withdrawals that we accidentally authorized. At that point, we’ve been scammed. Who wants to argue that point with a behemoth bureaucracy? From what I’ve seen, taking a case to primetime news usually moves a bank to do the right thing.
It might soothe your nerves to know that Bank of America first launched Zelle in 2011, and now the service is jointly owned by seven of the largest U.S. banks. If we can’t trust them with our money, why do they have our money? Well, maybe we can’t trust them with our money. But checking accounts in particular provide much easier access to fraud, so let’s keep the checking balance low.
Do you have $100 in your checking account? As Treasurer of SPVCA, I am offering you a sandbox to experiment with Zelle. Pay your dues with it, and I will email you a snapshot of what it looks like on the receiving end (if your email address is in the SPVCA directory).
Ready for a test drive? Log into your bank online. Click on Zelle (usually under Transfers). Here’s what it looks like at Bank of America:
If you found that easy and fun, feel free to keep plugging in email addresses and dollar amounts. There’s a bunch of addresses at the top of this newsletter. The ones that start with “H” work better. Zelle will keep moving money till the well runs dry. But make sure the club gets paid first.
The first ten dues payers will receive a free computer lesson on any Monday morning of their choosing. And also free exercise class two days a week. And also free mahjong and bridge. And also a world-class monthly newsletter. And also members-only access to socials and bingo. And also first dibs on the Nights of Lights Harbor Cruise. Go go go!
This article was originally published in the South Ponte Vedra Civic Association newsletter on 8/1/2022.