A financial services group offering services including private banking has launched a peer-to-peer payments service.

HomeStreet, the Nasdaq-listed parent of HomeStreet Bank of Seattle and which provides services including private banking, has launched a person-to-person payment service embedded in a mobile app. The new service is called Zelle.

Zelle enables clients to send and receive payments for free with almost anyone with a US bank account, using only the recipient’s mobile phone number or email address. Funds sent through Zelle are typically available in the recipient’s bank account within minutes, a statement from the firm said yesterday. 

The Zelle Network enables connections to more than 86 million mobile banking customers, it said. 

The app can be downloaded for free in the Apple App Store or Google Play store.

Now in its 97th year, HomeStreet the holding company for HomeStreet Bank. The group offers commercial and private banking services and investment and insurance products, and originates residential and commercial mortgages and construction loans for borrowers located in the Western US and Hawaii.