The Quarterly Review: How Zelle’s GM Denise Leonhard plans on leading the firm to $1 trillion dollars in total transactions
- Zelle's GM Denise Leonhard joins The Quarterly Review roster.
- Leonhard's push for the coming quarters is centered entirely around growth. She is driving the firm's efforts to reach $1 trillion in transactions.
Notes from the desk: Welcome to this month’s Quarterly Review, a series where I dive into what executives from some of the best brands in financial services are focusing on in this quarter, as well as how they are planning to achieve their goals. It’s a chance for the industry to learn about what goes on behind an FI’s four walls and how leadership manages their priorities.
But that’s not all: a review implies no mandates, a check in. So stay tuned next quarter to learn whether the executive achieves her plans and translates theory into reality.
In this edition, we focus on Denise Leonhard, GM of Zelle.
Half a trillion dollars were transferred over the Zelle network in the first half of 2024, according to Zelle’s report in October. This came with a 27% increase in transaction volume YOY for the firm, showing how quickly the Zelle network is expanding.
At the start of 2025, Denise Leonhard, Zelle’s GM, joins the The Quarterly Review roster to report that the firm is doubling down on this growth and plans to hit that golden $1 trillion mark very soon. Her strategy spearheading this effort to reach the growth benchmark is a mix of focusing on fundamentals like consumer experience and security, as well as a strategic move to let the growing adoption numbers “do the talking” and attract more banks into joining the network.
The focus: Growing the network while providing an optimized payments experience to meet the financial needs of Americans
Leonhard: Our goal is to continue that trajectory and surpass $1 trillion in transaction volume by the next edition of The Quarterly Review. We aim to be the largest and most secure platform for Americans to send money to people they know and love, and small businesses they trust.
1. Expanding the number of banks on the Zelle network: One specific angle of growth we are prioritizing in 2025 is increasing the number of banks on the Zelle network. We connect more than 2,200 banks and credit unions, and we are engaging with financial institutions every day to grow that number. Americans rely on Zelle, and any person with a bank account should be able to have access to safe and fast peer-to-peer (P2P) payments through their bank.
We’re proud that we have banks of all sizes on our network. In fact, 95% of the financial institutions on our network are community banks and credit unions, including nearly 50% of Minority Depository Institution (MDI) banks. Without Zelle, these smaller institutions may not be able to offer P2P payments and would struggle to compete in the marketplace. Their customers, who depend on those local banking relationships, are already underserved by the broader financial system and would be left further behind by the shift towards digital payments.
2. Meeting financial needs: A recent Bank of America Institute study found that 26% of all American households are living paycheck to paycheck. With Zelle, money is directly received in the bank accounts of consumers who are least able to wait for transfers to process, making it easier for them to pay or get paid, and to access their money almost immediately. That immediacy of funds is critical for millions of people across the country
This is also true of the small businesses who use Zelle to pay people or receive payments for services performed. Payment via Zelle powers local economies by providing businesses that rely on our service with access to instant liquidity that not only puts food on the table for their families, but enables them to pay for their expenses, and be better prepared to grow and thrive.
Plan of action
For the millions of consumers who rely on our service, the best thing that Zelle can be is available.
1. Ensuring we are up and running: Reliability is the most important promise to deliver on for a technology like ours. Our users expect to be up and running whenever someone needs to pay a landscaper or cover their share of dinner. That means every step we take to expand requires even more investment in our foundations. Our engineers work nonstop to ensure that we have a strong and resilient platform.
We need to deliver a strong and reliable network that can continue to grow and innovate.
2. Leverage network effects: To achieve growth, we need to continue to optimize the experience for our users. The more that people are using Zelle to pay the people they know and trust, the more their relationship with their bank is reinforced, and other banks and credit unions want to join the network and offer the same great service to their consumers.
The question becomes: How do we improve the user experience? The answer: By meeting consumers where they are.
3. Prioritizing consumers’ user experience: Our design teams do extensive research, asking Zelle users about how they use the product, what is working, and what could be better. Then, they work closely with our product teams and bank partners to act on those insights. We are constantly thinking about new ways to deploy Zelle overall or help small businesses save time by using Zelle instead of cash or checks.
4. Centering safety of consumer funds: Finally, if you want to provide the best P2P payments experience you need to work to be the safest. Last year, the FTC received 2.6 million fraud reports with only 5% of those scams occurring through P2P networks. The constant threat to consumers is a serious issue, as we all face an unrelenting stream of fraudulent texts, calls, social media posts, and more- all from criminals trying to swindle them out of money.
Fighting fraud and scams is not a new initiative for Zelle. It is part of our DNA and something that we do every day. We are working on new technologies to help participating financial institutions identify potentially suspicious payments and to help consumers remain vigilant to the threat of bad actors.
In 2023, we processed 99.95% of transactions without a report of scam or fraud, but we know the work to stay ahead of criminals is never done. There have been criminals for as long as there has been currency, and unfortunately, that will likely continue.
Since the network’s inception in 2017, Zelle has maintained a steady and positive trajectory. We will continue that momentum in the year ahead by strengthening our foundation, refining our service, and providing even more consumers with a safe, reliable, and easy way to pay people they know and trust.
