Send Money Fast with Zelle®

You can send money to almost anyone who has a U.S. bank account. Zelle® is intended to be used with friends, family and others you know and trust (like a babysitter). We recommend that you ask your recipient to enroll before you send them money, because they'll likely receive your payment faster.

You shouldn’t use Zelle® to send money to people you don’t know or trust (like an online sales or bidding site). Neither Navy Federal Credit Union nor Zelle® offer a protection program for any purchase or sale conducted using Zelle®. However, if you notice other errors or unauthorized charges, please contact us as soon as possible at 1-888-842-6328.

Yes. They’ll receive an email or text message if you send money using their email address or U.S. mobile phone number.

Security is a top priority for Navy Federal Credit Union. When you use Zelle® within Navy Federal digital banking,* your information is protected by the same technology we use to keep your other transactions secure.

Money in minutes. Money sent with Zelle® is designed to deliver payments, typically within minutes. All it takes is for your debit card to be activated—which you can do via our mobile app* or online. Once your card is activated, select Send Money, then Send Money with Zelle® to get started. For future scheduled payments, funds will be available on the delivery day you select.

What if they’re not enrolled in Zelle®? If you send money through Zelle® with an email or phone number to someone who isn’t enrolled, they'll receive a notification that prompts them to enroll. After they enroll, it may take 1 to 3 business days to receive the money you sent, depending on processing times. (This is a security feature.) Once that payment completes, your recipient will typically receive future payments faster.

If the payment is pending for more than 3 days, we recommend confirming that the recipient has activated their Zelle® profile and that you entered his or her email address or U.S. mobile number correctly.

If the recipient doesn't respond to the payment notification by enrolling after 14 days, the money will be returned to your account automatically.

If you have questions or need help, you can call the Navy Federal Zelle® Support Team toll-free at 1-888-842-6328.

Sending funds with Zelle® is similar to using cash. You don’t have protections if you send money to the wrong person, and you may not be able to get your money back. (For more information, see the Zelle® Payment Terms.) Before sending any money, make sure your recipient's contact information is correct and that the recipient is someone you know and trust.

If you sent money to the wrong person, we recommend contacting the recipient and requesting the money be returned. For information on how you may be able to cancel a payment, please see question “Can I cancel a payment?”

You can cancel a Zelle® payment if the recipient hasn't enrolled with Zelle®. If your recipient has already enrolled with Zelle®, the transaction can’t be canceled.

If you suspect fraudulent Zelle® transactions, please contact us at 1-888-842-6328.^{Footnote 2}

No. Navy Federal doesn't charge any fees to send money using Zelle®. However, other fees related to your account, such as Non-Sufficient Funds (NSF) fees or overdraft fees, will still apply.

For payments processed within minutes, the daily limit is $1,500 and the 30-day limit is $3,000. For standard processing (1-3 days), the daily and 30-day limits are both $3,000. You’re limited to 15 transactions per day and 30 per month, and payments must be at least $1.

The two totals are separate, so if you send $100 to be processed within minutes, you’ll still have $1,400 available to be processed within minutes and $3,000 remaining for standard processing.

If you need to send an amount greater than $3,000, please consider one of our other options for transferring money between accounts.

You can't use Zelle® to send money to bank accounts outside the U.S. However, recipients enrolled in Zelle® with a U.S. bank account should be able to receive money in that account while abroad.

Your U.S. mobile number or email address may be associated with a Zelle® profile through another financial institution. You may only establish Zelle® with one financial institution. Contact the Navy Federal Zelle® Support team at 1-888-842-6328 for instructions on how to transfer your U.S. mobile number or email address to your Navy Federal account. Once you’ve transferred your Zelle® service to Navy Federal, it will no longer be connected to the other financial institution.

Zelle® isn't intended to replace Member-to-Member transfers when you’re transferring money to another Navy Federal member. Navy Federal has partnered with Zelle® to allow members to send money to or receive money from friends or family with an external (non-Navy Federal) account. Both Member-to-Member transfers and Zelle® are available to you when you select Send Money in digital banking.*

You shouldn’t use Zelle® to purchase things from people you don’t know and trust. There’s no dispute process/purchase protection if you don’t receive goods you were promised, and you’d have to handle the matter directly with the recipient yourself. However, if you notice other errors or unauthorized charges, please contact us as soon as possible at 1-888-842-6328.

To use Zelle®, you must be at least 18 years old. You'll also need to be able to authorize debits and credits to the bank account enrolled in Zelle®. You can learn more about the Zelle® User Service Agreement here. 

If you’ve already enrolled your account with Zelle®, then the money will appear in your account without any additional steps. If you haven’t enrolled, tap or click the link you receive in the payment notification and follow the instructions to enroll and accept the payment.