Zelle & Truist test bill payments in network pilot

Zelle and Truist have begun a pilot to test bill payments over the Zelle network, starting with recurring credit card bills.

Truist employees are participating in early testing ahead of any broader consumer release. The project is part of Zelle Forward, an effort to expand the network beyond person-to-person transfers into routine household payments.

The pilot is assessing whether Zelle can provide consumers with clearer confirmation that a bill has been received and posted, reducing uncertainty around due dates and payment timing that has long plagued traditional bill pay.

More than USD $1.2 trillion was sent over the Zelle network last year. The new test builds on Truist's earlier work on alias-based requests for payment with real-time settlement, bringing that model into a consumer-facing setting.

Bill pay test

Initial testing is focused on recurring credit card payments made directly to billers. The same model could later be extended to categories such as rent, utilities, mobile services and car payments.

Zelle and Truist are evaluating whether the system can provide fast payer confirmations while giving billers more predictable posting and reconciliation. The approach could also remove the need for consumers to share account numbers when making payments.

That matters because bill payment remains a source of financial stress for many households. Federal Reserve data cited by Zelle show that 17% of adults did not pay all their bills in full in 2024.

Traditional payment systems can create delays between when a customer makes a payment and when the biller receives and records it. Those gaps can lead to missed deadlines, late charges and service disruption, especially when consumers pay close to the due date.

Chris Ward, Head of Enterprise Payments at Truist, said the project is designed to address that problem directly.

"The problem with bill pay isn't speed - it's certainty," Ward said. "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."

Wider push

The bill payments pilot is the second initiative under Zelle Forward, launched to explore more everyday uses for the network. The programme reflects Zelle's effort to broaden its role in domestic payments as banks and payment providers seek to make routine transactions more immediate and easier to track.

Zelle has been built around bank-linked transfers between consumers and small businesses through more than 2,300 financial institutions in the United States. By moving into bill payments, the network is testing whether the same infrastructure can support transactions with stricter requirements for timing, posting and proof of receipt.

For billers, quicker access to funds could improve cash flow and reduce the back-office work involved in matching incoming payments to customer accounts. For consumers, the main appeal is likely the confidence that a payment made near a deadline has been received and recorded.

Denise Leonhard, General Manager of Zelle, said the effort is intended to solve those practical problems.

"Zelle Forward is about pushing beyond what's possible today and we are proud to partner with Truist on this latest effort," Leonhard said. "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."

Truist, one of the largest commercial banks in the US, reported total assets of USD $549 billion at the end of March. As the lead pilot partner, Zelle gains a large-bank platform to test how a bill payment model might work within existing retail banking channels.

The project remains in a controlled pilot phase, with no broad launch planned across the Zelle network. Early testing focused on whether payments can be received, confirmed, and posted consistently enough to support routine household bills.