How to use Zelle, the lightning-fast payments app that’s more popular than Venmo in the US

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Watch out, Venmo — there’s another payments app on the rise.

Zelle is a year-old service that lets you digitally transfer money to someone else, no cash, checks, or wire transfers required. It sounds a lot like Venmo, but there’s one key difference: Zelle was created by the seven largest banks in the US.

Last summer, JPMorgan, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, US Bancorp, Capital One, BB&T, and PNC joined together to launch Zelle. Both Venmo and Zelle let you send money to friends instantly. The difference with Zelle is that you don’t have to wait to receive the money in your bank account.

This feature may have contributed to why Zelle is becoming so popular. According to eMarketer data, Zelle is now the most-used peer-to-peer payment app in the US, and is expected to grow more than 73% in 2018. By the end of the year, eMarketer predicts Zelle will have 27.4 million users, compared to Venmo’s 22.9 million users.

So what makes Zelle different from Venmo, and how can you start using it? Here’s everything you need to know.