Zelle and Bank of America have launched a first-of-its-kind application that enables charitable disbursements from Donor Advised Funds to reach nonprofits in near real time, replacing traditional multi-week paper-based processes with digital payments. The capability launches through Bank of America’s Charitable Gift Fund, which distributed over 100,000 grants totaling $1.3 billion in 2025.
The innovation is part of Zelle Forward, the payment network’s broader innovation agenda. Zelle currently processes more than $1.2 trillion annually across its network of over 2,300 financial institutions. The partnership is designed to accelerate charitable giving during both routine donations and emergency situations such as natural disasters and community crises.
While initially limited to Bank of America’s program, the companies plan to expand the capability to other financial institutions that offer both Zelle and donor-advised fund services.