Anybody receive money sent from the U.S. sent via Zelle

This link

https://www.zellepay.com/go/zelle

Smaller US regional US banks normally have a zelle link on its site.

Hmmm! Let me ask again but phrased differently:

Has anybody here in Brazil, with:
1) a full-time residency here such that your ONLY address is your Brazilian address and that ALL of your records (U.S. bank account, IRS, SSA) have your Brazilian address because you DON'T have a U.S. address,
2) on an Android device (with or without use of a VPN),
3) whose U.S. bank seems to know nothing about Zelle,
4) and who has received a notice that another has sent $$$ VIA Zelle......
...... IF YOU HAVE ACTUALLY USED ZELLE here can you tell me how you got it to work????

When I look at Google Play (to get the app) it isn't even there YET there are a ton of "advice on how to use Zelle" apps that offer only that - advice and it doesn't help.

Looking for somebody that uses Zelle otherwise, well, spare me (he says with a snide crackle to his voice) because I'm getting a little stressed by all of these new/additional banking challenges here in Braziland - you should see the Caixa Econômica lines here!!!! It is nutz.

This is a topic that I have been extremely interested in for over a year now.  I have been aggressively exploring every method of transfer that I can find is available and I expect to continue doing so.  Not everything I have learned is appropriate for publication on the Internet.
I can tell you first of all that I wont even use Zell for intracountry transfers ...it is cheaper and more efficient to get a postal money order and mail it to my party.
I have tried Western Union, XE, Xoom, and Transferwise.  All of them stink.  They will all treat you as a suspected major drug dealer and require you to meticulously and repeatedly prove otherwise.  Then, between thier exchange rates and their fees they will skim between 10% to as much as 20% of the total proceeds.   All of their telephone staff live in Mumbay and work the night shift and tell you their name is Mike or John.
Far and away the best means of transfer is to hand-carry US currency into Brazil, and then take it to a travel agency in a large mall for foreign exchange ....such installations are hungry for US dollars so they will all pay you top exchange rates, no fees at all, no questions asked.
Next best is to arrange for money to be wired directly through SWIFT from a major bank in the US to a major bank account in Brazil.  This route can involve quite a few bank junior officers and bureaucrats, and you must have the absolute correct IBAN number, and the sender must be prepared to make voice contact with the US bank for verification, and youd better have a good story ready for what you are doing.  This route commonly incurs less than 5% in fees but it can take weeks to accomplish.  I use Google hangouts to make the voice verification from Brazil.

I am still looking for better ways.  Larger amounts create bigger headaches.    Ive been seriously considering casting a maltese falcon from junk silver coins, and painting it black, but Im not to that point yet.....

4) and who has received a notice that another has sent $$$ VIA Zelle......
...... IF YOU HAVE ACTUALLY USED ZELLE here can you tell me how you got it to work????

Only can speak of Regions Bank. They switch to Zelle about a year ago. I only use it for bank to bank in the US though.

Everyone's expat experiences certainly do vary.  My SWIFT transfers are generally in my Brazilian account the afternoon of same day my US bank sends them.  If there's any voice contact required, it's at the bank level, and transparent to me.  I use TransferWise now only because their exchange rate is better and there are no bank fees at the Brazilian end.
Before I had a Brazilian bank account I used WU a few times, and yes, their fees are high relative to the amounts.
The easiest way to "transfer" small amounts is still withdrawals from an ATM in a Brazilian bank (more secure than the ones in retail establishments) with a foreign bank debit card in the same network.   Some people seem to live that way indefinitely.

Matt,
Assuming that your phone is Android (iPhone is a different planet for me, and I can't help you there), it sounds like your Google account (I  wrote "phone" the first time, but it's your account) is registered in Brazil.   The US Play Store has Zelle, the Brazil Play Store doesn't - we have US and Brazil registered phones, and I've checked both.  And it doesn't look like you can download from their website.   Two possible workarounds:
1. If you have a backup phone on a US Google account, use that.   It doesn't matter if the SIM chip doesn't work here, as long as the wifi does.
2. You can change the registration of your Google account to the US:  that will let you access the US Play Store.  It shouldn't affect your phone service,  but be aware that you can only do this once in every 24 hour period.   So if you do it today, you can't change back until tomorrow.

Here´s a good way to get money easily from your US bank account. I´ve been here for years and I haven´t experienced any difficulty in obtaining the amount I need like going  complicated with phone calls, bureaucracies, poor exchange rates etc. And you don´t need any bank account:

1. Have US debit cards. Two bank accounts or more if you can.
2. Have a reloadable prepaid VISA debit card. Can be a source of cash if needed, NO
CASH ADVANCE FEE. You only pay the international transaction fee of 1% if you decide to use the card for shopping or you need it to have cash in your pocket. I have five of them classified to different categories of expenses. This is issued by your bank or credit union and you have to have a credit card from the same bank to serve as a source of funding of your prepaid VISA debit cards. One advantage is you can reload them as needed. I reload them minutes before I go to an ATM - no more than I need. I can always repeat as needed, even the following day. See? No phone calls. You can even buy a house or a car doing it without incurring bank deposits more than $10,000
which will require you to report through FINCEN.

I sometimes withdraw R$10,000 reais at a time depending on the exchange rate, so I load the 5 reloadable cards and I bring them with me to the ATM along with the 2 debit cards from my US bank
accounts. ONE TRIP and I have all the money I need!

robal

Matt,

I wish I can help you. I haven´t used Zelle. Even my US credit union has it but I have other means like I mentioned above.

robal

Robal - The prepaid debit cards that can be reloaded sound like an interesting thing to investigate but I have one question. Where can one get cash at more than R$500/day (Banco do Brasil)?? If I were to need US$5000 that would be R$29k+ and I don't know anyplace where you can withdraw that kind of money in one day.

mberigan wrote:

Robal - The prepaid debit cards that can be reloaded sound like an interesting thing to investigate but I have one question. Where can one get cash at more than R$500/day (Banco do Brasil)?? If I were to need US$5000 that would be R$29k+ and I don't know anyplace where you can withdraw that kind of money in one day.

With 7 debit cards (2 regular debit and the 5 reloadable) I can withdraw R$18,800 per day at Bradesco in my area. It would take 2 days for me to withdraw that amount (R$37,600 in 2 days). Max for BdoB is
R$500...

robal

The other way to move money is ATM. I have a debit card that pays all the fees back. I have move good amount of money this way. I usually get the day rate. It take about a day for the ATM To get close to the rate change if it take a jump. I also use credit card with no Internations fees it track the days rate very accurate. I keep all my money in the USA and use a mail service as my US address. I tried wiring money to Brazil is a nightmare. They alway want additional documents even when it’s cleared the US. The way the currency changes here on a daily bases I find it better to keep dollars. Most grocery store have many ATM’s. It is going to get dangerous I think for awhile. I try to keep low profile.

NewBrazil wrote:

The other way to move money is ATM. I have a debit card that pays all the fees back. I have move good amount of money this way. I usually get the day rate. It take about a day for the ATM To get close to the rate change if it take a jump. I also use credit card with no Internations fees it track the days rate very accurate. I keep all my money in the USA and use a mail service as my US address. I tried wiring money to Brazil is a nightmare. They alway want additional documents even when it’s cleared the US. The way the currency changes here on a daily bases I find it better to keep dollars. Most grocery store have many ATM’s. It is going to get dangerous I think for awhile. I try to keep low profile.

Be careful of ATMs in places like grocery stores:  most of the reported cases of card scamming seem to involve those isolated machines, where the surveillance is spotty at best.  The ATMs in the bank lobbies are generally under 24 hour surveillance, so it's harder to introduce scamming hardware.

I agree you need to find a store where the machine are in plane view inside the store. Good practice is to pull on the card slot first. The problem with the  bank there limits are very small the amount you can pull and a lot of the time. The ATM are out of money where the Malls and Grocery store seem to keep the ATM well stocked with money.

I only use ATMs in banks. Safer, and if there´s a problem the staff is around to help.

That is the Zelle  app from Chase?? All I know I wired some money over to Brazil and the bank charged me a $40 fee. Some banks in Brazil are set up for that type of transaction but you have to have all the information correct. You do have to go to the bank to withdraw the money. Here is the Kicker, the bank also charges you for a fee for the money you withdraw. In America,  the process is a little smoother but in Brazil---its a whole different ball game.

What is the maximum amount you can draw out at the bank. Do you have a account there and using a foreign debit card. The ATM at the Grocery or shopping store will allow me 1000 Reals. My debit card is US dollars to Reals from ATM. I have a way to get more if needed from the same machine. I had experience that the Bank ATM doesn’t accept my debit card. Bank of Brazil.

We are stateside (CA) and highly recommend TRANSFERWIZE when sending $ to Brasil.

I've used them twice and just recently sent USD to Santander and it arrived today, Monday.

Their rates are low and transfers quickly.

Get the app and when you send to the same person..its a few clicks away.

chistletoe wrote:

This is a topic that I have been extremely interested in for over a year now.  I have been aggressively exploring every method of transfer that I can find is available and I expect to continue doing so.  Not everything I have learned is appropriate for publication on the Internet.
I can tell you first of all that I wont even use Zell for intracountry transfers ...it is cheaper and more efficient to get a postal money order and mail it to my party.
I have tried Western Union, XE, Xoom, and Transferwise.  All of them stink.  They will all treat you as a suspected major drug dealer and require you to meticulously and repeatedly prove otherwise.  Then, between thier exchange rates and their fees they will skim between 10% to as much as 20% of the total proceeds.   All of their telephone staff live in Mumbay and work the night shift and tell you their name is Mike or John.
Far and away the best means of transfer is to hand-carry US currency into Brazil, and then take it to a travel agency in a large mall for foreign exchange ....such installations are hungry for US dollars so they will all pay you top exchange rates, no fees at all, no questions asked.
Next best is to arrange for money to be wired directly through SWIFT from a major bank in the US to a major bank account in Brazil.  This route can involve quite a few bank junior officers and bureaucrats, and you must have the absolute correct IBAN number, and the sender must be prepared to make voice contact with the US bank for verification, and youd better have a good story ready for what you are doing.  This route commonly incurs less than 5% in fees but it can take weeks to accomplish.  I use Google hangouts to make the voice verification from Brazil.

I am still looking for better ways.  Larger amounts create bigger headaches.    Ive been seriously considering casting a maltese falcon from junk silver coins, and painting it black, but Im not to that point yet.....

Ive only ever used worldremit - and lets say i send money to my wifes account, at around 3 am EST , we will see it in her account about 11 am brasilia time, so only a few hours. Only time ive needed to call to verify amounts is when im sending over 1000  to brazil just for anti money laundering laws / funding terrorists flags . after i verify with my bank it gets processed right away. i can even top up my phone via worldremit. lol no more going out to pay for it! but to each their own. i use my credito/debito cards here like norm. if debito doesnt work credito always does

Same topic, but slightly different take:  Are you aware of an app / apps that will allow me, as an individual currently in the US, to transfer money to a business in Brazil?  I've prepaid my rent through April, but my monthly "condomínios" need to be paid each month from here.  No luck with Xoom, TransferWise, or Remitly. They all require an individual person be the recipient, not a business.  I hate to ask a Brazilian friend to receive the money and forward it or walk it over to the building; but is that what I'll have to do?  I can't see paying my bank $35 to wire $150.

id suggest worldremit, usually a 2 day turn around. else ask for a buleto and pay at the bank or other applicable places.