Well, that’s a great question! Here is a direct quote from the Zelle website.

“Only send money to those you trust: Zelle® should only be used with friends, family and others you trust. Why? Because you can’t cancel a payment once it’s been sent if the recipient is already enrolled with Zelle®.”

Using Zelle for renting a condo can be a risky option when booking your next Puerto Penasco vacation. Often, using Zelle to rent from friends, family, and others you trust is typically a safe option. If you rent a condo from someone you have never met or know, you are taking a BIG risk. Once the Zelle payment is sent you have zero recourse.

When does using Zelle payments for your Penasco condo rental make sense?

As stated above, renting from friends or family is a safe choice and I have done this many times. Next would be if I have rented from an owner previously and had a good overall rental experience with that owner. Then and only then would I consider using Zelle. However, yes there is still a risk.

My preferred method of payment is my credit card. Nothing else will protect your transaction better than using your credit card. Yes, a fee is charged to the condo owner when using a credit card compared to Zelle, but most credit card fees are around 3% of the transaction. I would much rather have the owner pass on the transaction fee to me for the added protection. Let’s say my reservation total is $900.00. The 3% transaction fee would be $27.00. I consider that cheap insurance in the event something goes wrong with my reservation and I would be glad to pay it.

Lastly, I do not give out my credit card info over the phone, sms, email, etc. I only provide that info online and on a secure site. Most owners will have an online checkout where you can quickly enter your information privately and securely.

To Zelle or not to Zelle? For me, I only use Zelle for friends and family. For all others, I prefer to use a credit card.