Zelle®
When you need to: Move small amounts to and from people you know, like paying your babysitter or paying your friend back for dinner.
What it is: Zelle is a peer-to-peer payment system—meaning you send money to or receive it from people you know and trust through your bank. What makes it unique is the speed of the transfer, which typically takes a few minutes when the recipient’s email address or U.S. mobile number is already enrolled in Zelle.
With similar payment options, the payment company acts as the middleman, so transfers usually take a few days to go through. However, with Zelle, a bank such as Huntington agrees to participate in the network, so when you send money to a friend whose bank is also in Zelle, the funds go directly between the accounts in minutes. (You can send money to someone whose bank isn’t part of Zelle, but they may have to wait longer for the money.)
Zelle is free to use from Huntington but has limits on how much money you can send in a day.
How to pay: Zelle is built into the Huntington Mobile app. Once you've logged into the app, tap the Payments icon at bottom, then either the Send or Request button, and follow the prompts to send or receive a payment.
What to watch out for: Remember how the money goes directly between bank accounts? That also means that once you send a payment, you can’t cancel it or dispute it later. So it’s crucial to only use Zelle with people you know and trust: family, friends, and others such as your personal trainer, babysitter, or neighbor. It’s better not to use it for buying things like tickets from someone online, for instance, where you can’t be sure the recipient will actually deliver what you bought.
Zelle’s speed and convenience also makes it a target for scammers, who may use fake phone calls or emails to get your personal information and then take money out of your account. Be sure never to give out account details to anyone who calls, emails, or texts you.
More info: Getting started with Zelle, Top Tips for Using Zelle
Bill Pay
When you need to: Pay a company, like your cable provider or your landscaper.
What it is: Online Bill Pay takes the place of writing and sending checks. When you set up a payee, Huntington either transfers the money from your account using ACH (the same system as checks) or just prints and mails a check for you. Funds usually take a few days to arrive and clear. It’s often a good alternative to setting up a direct withdrawal, as you don’t have to give another company with your account information.
How to pay: If you have a Huntington checking account with online banking, you can use Bill Pay. Just visit the Bill Pay tab on your account page and fill in the recipient’s information. Decide if you want the payment to go out automatically or only when you hit send.
What to watch out for: The primary risk is that a fraudster could use phishing techniques (fake emails, texts, or calls) to trick you into sending them money, sometimes by pretending to be from, say, your utility company and giving you “new” payment instructions. Always verify any payment information by calling the company or going to its site directly. If you think you may have been scammed, contact Huntington right away at reportfraud@huntington.com.
More info: Huntington Bill Pay
Wire Transfer
When you need to: Make large payments quickly, like a down payment on a house or a rent deposit.
What it is: Before peer-to-peer payments, wire transfers were the only way to get money from your account to someone else’s account in the same day. Like Zelle, wire transfers move across bank networks, so there is typically no delay before the recipient can withdraw the money. But because they require more information (and often a trip to a branch, as well as a fee) they are typically best used for large payments like mortgages or business-to-business payments.
How to pay: To send a wire transfer, you need the other person’s account and routing numbers. Then visit a Huntington branch to fill out the transfer form.
What to watch out for: Wire transfers are typically a safe way to move money, as long as you know the recipient. The most common scam is mortgage wire fraud, in which someone pretends to be a real estate or title agent and sends you an email with fake wire information just before closing.
More info: Preventing Wire Fraud
Real-Time Payments (RTP®)
What it is: As the first new payment system in the U.S. in more than 40 years, RTP® is addressing the need for faster, more efficient payment methods. We are excited to share that deposit accounts are now able to receive RTP credit transactions. RTP provides access to funds credited to your account within seconds, plus the ability to receive more detailed information about your deposit transactions.
More info: Real-Time Payments®