BRIDGEWATER, NJ – Alacriti, a leading provider of cloud-native money movement services for banks and credit unions, today announced a new partnership with Early Warning Services, LLC, the company behind Zelle®. Zelle will be embedded in Alacriti’s Orbipay Payments Hub, an all-in-one payments platform that provides financial institutions with all the tools, services, and technology infrastructure they need to quickly enable Zelle for consumers, small businesses, and commercial clients. 

“Our partnership with Early Warning will enable fast and smooth integrations of Zelle for our customers,” said Mark Majeske, SVP of Faster Payments at Alacriti. “Zelle is proven to deepen customer engagement and keep payments within the secured banking experience—reducing the need for customers to turn to outside fintech apps.”

There are over 2,300 banks and credit unions providing Zelle to their customers and members. 95 percent of those financial institutions are community banks and credit unions. Zelle is an important offering for these financial institutions, helping them to compete and retain customers by providing access to the same technology available to larger banks. 

“We are committed to bringing Zelle to financial institutions of all sizes,” said Denise Leonhard, general manager of Zelle. “By working with new partners like Alacriti, we can unlock new opportunities for banks and credit unions throughout the country to bring a fast and reliable way to send and receive money to their customers and members—right from their existing banking experience.”

The integration of Zelle into Alacriti’s Orbipay Payments Hub means financial institutions can offer Zelle through their existing digital banking platform or through Alacriti’s unified money movement app, which allows a fast and simple delivery of modern payment experiences for consumers and businesses. Orbipay Payments Hub supports all major payment rails—including both legacy and faster payments—within a single platform. This unified infrastructure powers centralized operations, consistent user experiences, and consolidated reporting across channels. Integrating Zelle expands the payments hub with a directory-based money movement service.

Alacriti expects financial institutions to be live using the Zelle solution in Q1 2026.

Key Benefits of Zelle Through Orbipay Payments Hub:

• Centralized reporting and operations – Unified reporting and back-office visibility across all payment types, including Zelle.
• Core-independent deployment – Enables Zelle implementation across any core or digital banking platform.
• Dual support for consumer and business users – Institutions can offer Zelle for both person-to-person and business-to-consumer (e.g., disbursement) use cases.
• Built-in security – Fraud mitigation tools are embedded into the Orbipay platform, helping protect financial institutions and their customers from criminals. Today, more than 99.95% of Zelle transactions are completed without any report of fraud or scams
• Simplicity of use – Users can transfer funds to another user (business or consumer) using phone or email identifiers, all within the secure environment of their financial institution’s digital banking experience. 

About Alacriti 

Alacriti stands at the forefront of payments innovation, delivering comprehensive payment and money movement solutions to financial institutions and businesses. Our commitment is to empower our clients and their users with seamless, easy-to-use, and secure real-time payment experiences across all preferred channels, rails, types, and devices. Alacriti’s innovative solutions provide cutting-edge payment technologies that integrate effortlessly with existing infrastructures. 

About Zelle®

Zelle® is transforming how money moves, with more than five billion digital payments sent since its launch in 2017. The Zelle® network connects over 2,200 banks and credit unions of all sizes, enabling consumers and businesses to send digital payments to people and businesses they know and trust with an eligible bank account in the U.S. Money is available directly in bank accounts generally within minutes when the recipient is already enrolled with Zelle®. To learn more about Zelle® and participating financial institutions in the Zelle® network, visit www.zelle.com.

LOS ANGELES – Zelle® and Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) today announced that the LAFC “Saves for the Community” program raised $102,000 this year for Latinos for Education. As a partner in LAFC’s 2024 regular season, and as part of its ongoing commitment to furthering education and empowering communities, Zelle committed to donate $1,000 to Latinos for Education for every save made by an LAFC goalkeeper.

The beneficiary of the “Saves for the Community” program, Latinos for Education is the first Latino-founded national organization solely dedicated to creating leadership pathways for Latinos in education. The $102,000 charitable donation was made by Zelle during halftime of LAFC’s regular season finale on October 19 against the San Jose Earthquakes, at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.

“We truly appreciate Zelle and LAFC working with us as part of the “Saves for the Community” initiative," said Latinos for Education Founder and CEO Amanda Fernandez. "This support will help us expand opportunities for Latino educators, build pathways to leadership, and ensure students see themselves reflected in their classrooms. Together, we are taking critical steps toward a more equitable education system. Thanks to Zelle for believing in our community.”

The LAFC “Saves for the Community” charitable donation will fund programs such as the Aspiring Latino Leaders Fellowship (ALLF), which provides eight months of leadership development sessions for Latino education leaders in K-12 organizations in campus or district leadership roles, and the Latinx Teachers Fellowship (LTF), which helps develop and retain Latino teachers, 43% of whom typically leave the teaching profession by year four.

“We are proud to support Latinos for Education and their vital mission to empower Latino educators at all stages of their careers,” said Denise Leonhard, general manager of Zelle. “The opportunity to invest in the community is a major goal of our partnership with LAFC. Watching the total saves tally tick up throughout the season was even more exciting knowing that every save meant more funds were being dedicated to support such a worthy cause.”

This season, Zelle helped improve the fan experience as an LAFC Golden Boot Club Partner. At every home game at BMO Stadium this year, “Settle up in the 70th" signage encouraged fans to use Zelle to easily pay their friends and family back for tickets, food, and other costs during the match after concession stands closed in the 70th minute.

“Our investment in the Los Angeles community is at the core of our mission as a football club,” said Larry Freedman, LAFC Co-President and CBO. “I want to thank Zelle for partnering with us on the “Saves for the Community” initiative and ensuring that every time one of our goalkeepers kept the ball out of our net, the impact went far beyond the scoreboard.”

About Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC)

The 2022 MLS Cup Champion Los Angeles Football Club has represented the greater Los Angeles area in Major League Soccer since 2018. The two-time Supporters’ Shield Champions, LAFC is dedicated to building a world-class soccer Club that represents the diversity of Los Angeles and is committed to delivering an unrivaled experience for fans. LAFC’s ownership group is comprised of local leaders and innovators of industry with intellectual capital, financial prowess, operations expertise and success in the fields of entertainment, sports, technology and media. LAFC is invested in the world’s game and Los Angeles, constructing and developing the 22,000 seat BMO Stadium and a top-flight training center on the campus of Cal State Los Angeles.

About Zelle®

Zelle® is transforming how money moves, with more than five billion digital payments sent since its launch in 2017. The Zelle® Network connects more than 2,200 bank and credit union brands of all sizes, enabling consumers and businesses to send digital payments to people and businesses they know and trust with an eligible bank account in the U.S. Money is available directly in bank accounts generally within minutes when the recipient is already enrolled with Zelle®. To learn more about Zelle® and participating financial institutions in the Zelle® Network, visit www.zelle.com. Zelle® is brought to you by Early Warning Services, LLC, an innovator in payment and risk management solutions.

JACKSONVILLE, FL – FIS^TM (NYSE: FIS), a global leader in financial technology, today announced the expansion of its real-time payments suite with plans to offer Early Warning’s Zelle^SM Network person-to-person (P2P) service to extend its leadership in delivering comprehensive faster-payments solutions for financial institutions.

The partnership with Early Warning will enable FIS financial institutions to join the Zelle Network quickly and with minimal effort. The fully outsourced solution will enable each institution to utilize robust capabilities provided within the secure FIS infrastructure, including mobile and online consumer experiences, alerts and notifications, faster account integration, as well as capabilities for product support, regulatory compliance, risk management and anti-money laundering.

“Offering Zelle aligns with our global initiatives in real-time payments frameworks and extends our portfolio of solutions that help financial institutions fulfill the growing customer demand for instant money movement,” said Scott Coffing, division executive, Corporate and Digital, FIS. “Access to Early Warning’s Zelle solution through FIS will help banks and credit unions remain the secure, trusted provider to—and central transaction point for—their customers.”

“Working with FIS is a natural extension of our strategy to become the ubiquitous provider of faster P2P payments for financial institutions of all sizes,” said Lou Anne Alexander, group president, payments Early Warning. “Zelle and FIS will continue to help financial institutions make their customers’ financial lives easier, providing them fast, safe, and more convenient payment options with their friends and family.”

Zelle will be offered as a key part of the growing set of FIS real-time payment capabilities and solutions, which include External Transfers, Digital eGifting, and Bill Payment, all enabled through FIS PayNet and the FIS Open Payment Framework (OPF). These solutions empower financial institutions to meet the expectations of an on-demand world. At launch, Zelle will be one of the largest faster payments networks in the U.S. accessible to over 76 million mobile banking users nationwide.

About Early Warning

Early Warning is creating the future of payments by delivering innovative payment and risk solutions to financial institutions nationwide. For over 25 years, Early Warning has been a leader in financial technology that protects and advances the financial system. Learn more at www.earlywarning.com.

About FIS

FIS is a global leader in financial services technology, with a focus on retail and institutional banking, payments, asset and wealth management, risk and compliance, consulting, and outsourcing solutions. Through the depth and breadth of our solutions portfolio, global capabilities and domain expertise, FIS serves more than 20,000 clients in over 130 countries. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., FIS employs more than 55,000 people worldwide and holds leadership positions in payment processing, financial software and banking solutions. Providing software, services and outsourcing of the technology that empowers the financial world, FIS is a Fortune 500 company and is a member of Standard & Poor’s 500^® Index. For more information about FIS, visit www.fisglobal.com.

Follow FIS on Facebook (facebook.com/FIStoday) and Twitter (@FISGlobal).

MONETT, MO – Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:JKHY) is a leading provider of technology solutions and payment processing services primarily for the financial services industry. Today the company announced a strategic alliance with Early Warning to resell Early Warning’s Zelle^SM Network to partner financial institutions. Zelle, a new faster payments network, will enable financial institution customers to send faster person-to-person (P2P) payments to nearly anyone with a U.S. bank or credit union account.

Jack Henry & Associates has offered P2P services since 2005 through iPay Solutions^TM, with its volumes of payment transactions growing consistently since inception. With the addition of Zelle, Jack Henry & Associates’ clients will be able to provide the Zelle Network and P2P product to their customers. iPay Consumer Bill Pay^TM clients will also gain the option to send and receive P2P transactions through the Zelle network. Participating financial institutions will be able to implement Zelle capabilities in 2017.

Lou Anne Alexander, group president, payments of Early Warning, said, “Partnerships that lead to the growth of the Zelle Network are vital to our business, and a great benefit to all users. We are pleased to partner with Jack Henry & Associates on our mutual mission to provide faster, more secure P2P payment solutions.”

Greg Adelson, general manager of Jack Henry & Associates’ Payment Solutions Group, said, “Jack Henry & Associates is dedicated to providing clients with products and services that are at the forefront of faster, more reliable payments. Adding Zelle to our existing P2P capabilities will allow our clients to give consumers more of what they desire in this type of payment experience, and maintain ownership of these transactions as they compete more effectively against alternative payment providers.”

Zelle is an inclusive network that is open to all banks and credit unions in the United States. Nineteen financial institutions have already joined the Zelle Network thus far, and through Early Warning’s alliance with Jack Henry & Associates, approximately 3,000 additional financial institutions will gain access to the network. At launch, Zelle will be one of the largest faster payments networks in the U.S., accessible to over 76 million mobile banking users nationwide.

About Early Warning

Early Warning is creating the future of payments by delivering innovative payment and risk solutions to financial institutions nationwide. For over 25 years, Early Warning has been a leader in financial technology that protects and advances the financial system. Learn more at www.earlywarning.com.

About Jack Henry & Associates, Inc.

Jack Henry & Associates, Inc. (NASDAQ:JKHY) is a leading provider of technology solutions and payment processing services primarily for the financial services industry. Its solutions serve approximately 10,500 customers nationwide, and are marketed and supported through three primary brands. Jack Henry Banking® supports banks ranging from community banks to multi-billion dollar institutions with information processing solutions. Symitar® is a leading provider of information processing solutions for credit unions of all sizes. ProfitStars® provides highly specialized products and services that enable financial institutions of every asset size and charter, and diverse corporate entities to mitigate and control risks, optimize revenue and growth opportunities, and contain costs. Additional information is available at www.jackhenry.com.

CINCINNATI, OH – Fifth Third Bank announced today that it will join Early Warning’s Zelle^SM Network to offer customers a safe, fast way to make person-to-person (P2P) payments. With Zelle^SM, money can be sent by simply using the recipient’s mobile number or email address. Fifth Third customers will have access to real-time payments with Zelle^SM in 2017.

• Zelle^SM is safer: Fifth Third customers will benefit from the convenience of real-time P2P payments and the security that banks provide their customers.
• Zelle^SM is fast: Zelle^SM will enable Fifth Third customers to send and receive faster payments, with funds accessible by the recipient within minutes.
• Zelle^SM is simple: Fifth Third customers can use Zelle^SM through their Fifth Third mobile banking app.

“Fifth Third is excited to offer additional services to our customers allowing them to make P2P payments that are simple, safe and received in real time,” said Greg Carmichael, CEO and president of Fifth Third Bancorp. “We are looking forward to working with Early Warning to offer Zelle^SM and allow our customers to bank when they want and how they want.”

P2P payments are increasing, with a recent study showing a growth of 23 percent year-over-year.¹ One of the biggest growth areas is for consumers ages 30 to 39.¹

About 15 percent of consumers say they make P2P payments daily or weekly, according to a 2015 study on digital payments. But current products don’t allow immediate payments. More than half of consumers surveyed said they would use P2P more often if payments were immediate.²

“We looked at what our customers want. They want to make payments now; they don’t want to wait for them to process. They want it to be easy. And they want that same trust they have in their own bank,” said Larry McClanahan, Fifth Third’s director of digital delivery. “Zelle^SM will give our customers a seamless experience.”

Accessing Zelle^SM through Fifth Third is free and makes it easy to send money to a friend, whether to split the cost of dinner or pay the rent on an apartment.

“The addition of Fifth Third represents a significant milestone as Early Warning continues to expand the Zelle^SM Network making faster, safer payments accessible to almost anyone nationwide,” said Paul Finch, chief executive officer for Early Warning. ”Fifth Third is a leader in innovation, and Early Warning is pleased to work together to provide Fifth Third customers with access to faster P2P payments through Zelle^SM.”

About Fifth Third

Fifth Third Bancorp is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Company has $144 billion in assets and operates 1,191 full-service Banking Centers, including 94 Bank Mart® locations, most open seven days a week, inside select grocery stores and 2,541 ATMs in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia, Georgia and North Carolina. Fifth Third operates four main businesses: Commercial Banking, Branch Banking, Consumer Lending, and Wealth and Asset Management. Fifth Third also has an 18.3% interest in Vantiv Holding, LLC. Fifth Third is among the largest money managers in the Midwest and, as of June 30, 2016, had $305 billion in assets under care, of which it managed $26 billion for individuals, corporations and not-for-profit organizations. Investor information and press releases can be viewed at www.53.com. Fifth Third’s common stock is traded on the Nasdaq® Global Select Market under the symbol “FITB.” Fifth Third Bank was established in 1858. Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender.

About Early Warning

Early Warning is creating the future of payments by delivering innovative payment and risk solutions to financial institutions nationwide. For over 25 years, Early Warning has been a leader in financial technology that protects and advances the financial system. Learn more at www.earlywarning.com.
 

¹ According to a 2015 study by FindaBetterBank.com that surveyed 800 adults.

² According to a 2015 Accenture study that surveyed 4,000 adults in the U.S. and Canada.

SCOTTSDALE, AZ – Early Warning Services, LLC, the network operator behind Zelle, today released the results of its first Digital Payments Adoption Study (“study”). To track consumer adoption, use, and attitudes toward digital payments, the study surveyed more than 9,000 U.S. consumers who are aware of P2P, own smartphones and have accessed online or mobile banking.

The study found that adoption and usage of digital person-to-person (P2P) payments are high among all generations, with consumers pointing to trust in friends and family and trust in their financial institutions as the primary reasons for engaging in a digital payment. Boomers ranked trust in financial institutions as the most important influence on engaging in a digital payment, while Millennials and Generation X ranked recommendations from friends/family/peers as their primary influence.

“Trust is at the heart of the consumer payment relationship,” said Ravi Loganathan, Head of Business Intelligence at Early Warning Services." Our research showed that new segments of consumers engaged in a P2P payment for the first time because it was offered from their known and trusted mobile banking environment or it came recommended by friends, family, or peers.”

Try It. You’ll Like It.

Although digital P2P adoption first caught on with Millennials, adoption of P2P services continue to be popular among all generations. Of those surveyed, more than 75 percent of Millennials have used online or mobile P2P payments. Generation X is a close second at 69 percent, and Baby Boomers are closing in at 51 percent.

Those who already have P2P are using it frequently, indicating P2P is becoming part of routine banking behavior. Forty-nine percent of Millennials use P2P payment services at least once a week, followed by 42 percent of Generation X and 32 percent of Boomers.

Trust in Transactions Starts with Trust in Your Friends and Family or Trust in Your Bank

Sixty-eight percent of Millennials and 66 percent of Generation X identified recommendations from friends and family referrals as the primary reason for trying a P2P payments service. For Boomers, trust in financial institutions was cited as the key reason for changing payments behavior from physical cash and checks to digital P2P payments. A service being “offered through a financial institution I use” was found to be a significant motivator for using digital P2P payments for the first time amongst older users, with 70 percent of Boomers reporting they used a P2P service because it was offered by their bank, versus 49 percent of Generation X and 35 percent of Millennials. The findings suggest that consumers want a secure, easy-to-use service right from their online banking and/or mobile banking app that is recommended by friends and family who use the service.

Security was also identified as a “very important” feature for an ideal P2P service across all generations. Boomers ranked it the number one feature, while Gen X placed it third and Millennials fifth out of 13 choices, such as having social features or app reviews. Consumers cited accessing financial information online outside of their financial institutions’ platforms as one of the top barriers to using digital payment services.

Rent, Splitting Bills and Gifting Top P2P Use Cases

And, what are they using these services for? After reviewing the memo fields used on transactions across the Zelle Network® , it was determined that the top reasons for use in banking apps over a six-month period were rent, meals, splitting utility bills, and gifting.

Methodology

The study was based upon a 20-minute self-contained digital survey that was administered online in April 2018, to a total of 9,229 consumers ages 18-65, with a high school degree or higher. Participants were aware of P2P, owned a smartphone, sent or received money by any means, and used online or mobile banking in the past six months. Interviews were conducted in two phases: an initial phase that included baseline metrics from surveyed online U.S. consumers, and a post-qualifying phase including detailed behavior, and attitudinal data.

About Zelle®

Brought to you by Early Warning Services, LLC, an innovator in payment and risk management solutions, Zelle makes it fast, safe and easy for money to move. The Zelle Network® connects the nation’s leading financial institutions, enabling consumers to send fast person-to-person payments to friends and family with a bank account in the U.S. Funds are available directly in consumer bank accounts generally within minutes when the recipient is already enrolled with Zelle. To learn more about Zelle and its participating financial institutions, visit www.zelle.com.

About Early Warning Services, LLC

Creating the Future of Payments®, Early Warning delivers innovative payment and risk solutions to financial institutions nationwide. For over 25 years, Early Warning has been a leader in technology that helps money move fast, safe and easy. Learn more at www.earlywarning.com.

Zelle and the Zelle related marks are wholly owned by Early Warning Services, LLC.

BOSTON, MA – The Basketball Tournament (TBT) today announced that Zelle® is the Official Payment Partner of TBT. Through this partnership, winners will receive TBT’s $2 million prize with Zelle, during the award ceremony, giving winners speed and access to their prize like never before. Sharing the wealth, the winning team’s top 1,000 fans, as well as the eight regional winners¹, will also receive their money with Zelle. The Championship game is on Aug. 6, live from Wintrust Arena in Chicago and will air on ESPN.

The TBT prize ceremony historically featured Founder and CEO, Jon Mugar, delivering a ceremonial oversized check to the TBT Champion. Checks would take days to clear, with winners unable to access their prize money during that time. This year, for the first time ever, the winning team’s prize money will be sent with Zelle directly to their bank accounts within minutes of the game ending².

"When I first played in the TBT Championship Game in its first year in 2014, no one really knew when we’d receive the money,” said Justin Burrell, four-time TBT champion and player for Overseas Elite. “When I finally won TBT, and got that six-figure check, it was a little nerve-wracking to be carrying around so much money on one piece of paper. We’re looking forward to being the first team to receive our winnings with Zelle this summer, and spending some of it in the Windy City."

“We’d hear stories from players about walking into a bank the morning after our championship with checks for large amounts and unable to get their money that same day,” added Mugar. “Zelle has solved a major problem for all of us, not to mention the 1,000 top fans of the winning team, who will also be paid with Zelle. They’ve helped turn anticipation into celebration by making the funds available on championship night².”

Zelle is conveniently available within the mobile banking apps of Zelle Network® participants—a network that includes hundreds of banks and credit unions of all sizes. Zelle reduces the complex distribution of the $2 million prize to over 1,000 TBT winners. In addition, Zelle makes the journey through TBT easier for the competing teams who share a number of expenses: travel, hotels, meals and more. Using Zelle makes it fast, safe and easy to pay each other back for shared expenses in minutes².

Al Ko, CEO of Early Warning Services, LLC, the network operator of Zelle, will send the winners their prize money—awarded by TBT—live on ESPN immediately after the Championship Game.

“Zelle is going beyond the game in working with TBT to change payments for players, coaches and fans,” said Ko. “Zelle is being woven throughout the TBT experience, and I can’t wait to get money moving after that final buzzer.”

For more than 100-million consumers, Zelle is already available from the convenience of their mobile banking app allowing them to send payments to people who bank at different financial institutions in the U.S. To enroll with Zelle², visit enroll.zellepay.com.

To become a TBT fan, and earn a share of the $2 million prize, visit www.thetournament.com¹.

About Zelle®

Brought to you by Early Warning Services, LLC, an innovator in payment and risk management solutions, Zelle makes it fast, safe and easy for money to move. The Zelle Network® connects financial institutions of all sizes, enabling consumers and businesses to send fast digital payments to people they know and trust with a bank account in the U.S. Funds are available directly in bank accounts generally within minutes when the recipient is already enrolled with Zelle. To learn more about Zelle and its participating financial institutions, visit www.zelle.com.

About TBT

Entering its sixth year, The Basketball Tournament has grown from a unique idea among friends into one of the most exciting and engaging events on the summer sports calendar, with national TV exposure on ESPN, social media buzz and regional championships across the country culminating in a winner-take-all $2 million game attracting some of the best basketball players in the world. For more information, please visit www.thetournament.com.

Zelle and the Zelle related marks are wholly owned by Early Warning Services, LLC, and are used herein under license.