He suggested that customers treat Zelle as they would cash. Peter Tapling, a former executive at Early Warning who is now a payments consultant, said banks haven’t done enough to educate customers about the risks of Zelle. Bank of America was essentially saying that the Zelle transactions were authorized - even if his phone was stolen. But it denied his claims for the Zelle thefts, saying the transactions were validated by authentication codes sent to a phone that had been previously used for that account. When he filed fraud reports, the bank quickly refunded his cash and credit card losses. Barth has been a customer for more than 30 years. and used Zelle to make three transfers totaling $2,500.Īll three accounts were at Bank of America, where Mr.

A thief got access to his digital wallet and ran up charges on his credit card, took out cash at an A.T.M. Barth was hospitalized with Covid-19 and his phone disappeared from his hospital room.

“It’s like the banks have colluded with the sleazebags on the street to be able to steal,” said Bruce Barth, another victim. When swindled customers, already upset to find themselves on the hook, search for other means of redress, many are enraged to find out that Zelle is owned and operated by banks.

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