My landlord (lives in California, we've never met) asked me
to pay rent via Zelle. Simple request, right?
My rent is $1,900/month. I've been banking with USAA for 25
years. Their Zelle limit? $500-$1,000/day.
First month, I had to send multiple transactions over several
days. I can only imagine what that looked like to my landlord
— payment notifications trickling in, $500 here, $500 there.
Not the first impression I wanted to make with someone who
took a chance on me as a tenant.
Last month, I gave up and did a wire transfer. $25 fee. Just
to send my own money to my own landlord in one transaction.
I've called multiple banks trying to find one that offers
Zelle with a limit high enough to cover rent. No luck.
Is this just me? How are other people handling rent payments
when Zelle limits are so low? Am I missing something obvious?
Why can't I Zelle my landlord $1900 in one transaction? The daily limits are making me look like a flaky tenant.
byu/Substantial-Film1861 inpersonalfinance
Posted by Substantial-Film1861
15 Comments
A check in the mail. I totally feel your frustration but banks are very old institutions and the convenience now is insane now compared to 15 years ago
Did you talk to your landlord bout the multiple transactions and why they were happening? Does she care?
Start a bit early so you finish by the time rent is due. If you talk to an operator at USAA they might be able to increase the payment to the landlord. It’s a security precaution. I had them up my ATM limit.
My wife Zelle’s me more than your daily limit whenever I ask for it. It’s your bank. Not Zelle.
Before you ask—No you can’t have my wife.
Any savvy landlord knows about Zelle transfer limitations. Send as few transfers as possible and don’t sweat it.
You could look into why you have such a low limit. After a few months tge limit may increase.
I’m not 100% familiar with Zelle but does Zelle have a “pay my bills” option. the limits may be imposed for personal transactions but not for bill pay once it’s set up. I know I got screwed doing wire transfers becuase that’s what my landlord asked for, when I went and talked to my bank they guided me though the bill pay and now its a $1 fee and it transfers the whole amount almost instantly.
Can you have them send a check instead through your bank’s “bill pay” feature?
Who do you bank with? After creating a good relationship Chase gives me 15k limits
Never understood the attraction to Zelle, Venmo and.Paypal work fine for me. For rent Id just schedule it in web bill pay and let my bank figure it out or mail a check.
You’re average monthly balance is probably why.
I had the same issue, then I started leaving more in the account and it raised after 3 months.
Edit: Not with USAA*
Because your landlord is a cheapskate and doesn’t have professional management. I really hope you’re not sending it friends/family.
Chase. I just went through the same situation, chase has a daily limit of 2000
Zelle can’t handle large transactions and banks are no longer using it. Too many hacks.
chase and wells Fargo have a $7500 limit. But you have to work up to it and usually when sending to someone new it limits it to $5k.
*Smiles in 5000 single transaction limits*