Zelle, a popular peer-to-peer payment service in the US, will expand its services to India, marking its foray into the overseas market.
The initial availability is expected before the end of this year, Zelle said in a statement on Thursday.
Zelle, somewhat similar to India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI), allows instant money transfers between US bank accounts.
A key difference between the two is that while is developed by the (NPCI) and enables money transfers using a mobile app, Zelle is integrated into the mobile apps of participating banks.
Early Warning Services LLC, the network operator of Zelle, is owned by seven of the US’ leading financial institutions, including Bank of America, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, PNC Bank, Truist, US Bank, and Wells Fargo.
“As the world’s largest recipient of remittances, India is a natural starting point and an important corridor for the millions of American consumers who regularly send money to the country,” Zelle said.
The company also unveiled ZelleUSD (ZLUSD), its proprietary US dollar-backed stablecoin.
ZLUSD will support future international payment capabilities in other markets, providing US consumers with even more opportunities to send money to family and friends worldwide.
“Zelle scaled into one of the largest, most transformative payment networks in the US because of the value it provides to meet consumer demand for fast, innovative, and reliable payments,” said Early Warning CEO Cameron Fowler.
“We believe international payments are at a similar inflexion point, and we are expanding to meet consumer demand,” he said.
Early Warning’s strategy to expand Zelle internationally meets growing consumer demand for fast, secure, and reliable digital payments.
According to the statement, it enables financial institutions of all sizes to offer near-instant cross-border remittances through trusted banks and credit unions.
In 2025, American consumers and small businesses sent more than $1.2 trillion using Zelle, marking the second consecutive trillion-dollar year.
According to the UPI website, as many as 720 banks were live on the platform and more than 23 billion transactions took place in May to transfer over ₹29.9 trillion ($313 billion).