A final (I think) question:

You know the email address or cell phone number of an intended recipient. Must he have Zelle set up in his bank account?

I just spoke with my brother, and learned that he doesn’t have Zelle set up.

Even though you have it set up with your financial institution, you cannot use Zelle to send money to another party who doesn’t have Zelle. Doesn’t matter if you have their phone or email address, if they are not set up with their bank, you’re just sending money to nowhere.

Thanks Q. More info:

AI Overview
“No, the recipient does not need Zelle set up immediately. They have 14 days from the time you send the payment to enroll using the exact email address or U.S. mobile number you used.”

So, yes, the recipient must have Zelle set up to actually receive the funds.

^^^^ “Hey, although you’re not set up at your bank for Zelle, I’m going to send you money anyway. Just be be sure to set it up within 14 days”. Would anyone be crazy enough to do that?

^^^^^ That’s true. If the recipient doesn’t set up his receiving Zelle account in the required time, the sender’s deposit gets returned so no risk unless it needed to be paid by a specific date that passed.