Three members of Congress said on Thursday (July 3) they sent a letter to each bank that owns the Zelle Peer-Peer-Poer (P2P) payment platform asking what the banks did in combating social media scams.
Three members of Congress said on Thursday (July 3) they sent a letter to each bank that owns the Zelle Peer-Peer-Poer (P2P) payment platform asking what the banks did in combating social media scams.
The letters were caused by the spread of these scams and were blocked by a decision by a bank, JPMorgan Chase, from the social media-derived payments, the House Financial Services Committee Democrats said in a press release Thursday.
The letters were sent to Bank of America, Capital One, JPMorgan Chase, PNC, Truist, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. They were signed by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.).
“Zelle promoted more than $1 trillion in payments in 2024, a 27% increase from last year,” the congressman wrote in a letter. “The opportunities for fraud and scams are growing as the use of the platform grows.”
Saying that members of Congress want to better understand each bank’s policies on fraud and scams on Zelle and other P2P platforms, six of the seven banks asked about data on scams and frauds related to social media, Zelle and other P2P platforms; the bank’s policies and procedures for consumers who reimburse these scams; and the measures banks are taking to protect consumers from these scams.
Another letter sent to JPMorgan Chase also asked how banks decided to block the Zelle transactions originated on social media.
By PYMNTS, JPMorgan Chase, Truist and Bank of America declined to comment on the letter. Four other banks did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
A Zelle spokesman told PYMNTS in an email statement that criminals are dealing with Americans through various channels, including phone calls, text messages, emails, social media and online markets, and law enforcement, governments and private businesses should work together to protect Americans.
“Zelle is leading the fight against scams and fraud and has industry-leading reimbursement policies that go beyond the law,” the statement said. “More than 150 million U.S. users rely on it and today, 99.95% of all transactions on the platform have not completed any scams or fraud reports.”
JPMorgan Chase decided to widely report on the decision to pay Zelle via social media contact in February.
The bank's service agreement says the Zelle service is designed to send money to friends, family and other trusted people and should not be used to send money to strangers.
