Then I think I was wrong, and you are right.

As someone not from the US I knew of zelle but never used it, and believed it was a direct competitor to Venmo or PayPal.

The reason I thought it was its own thing was because it has it’s own app, and a catchy silicon valley startup type name, and a brand logo and all of that.

Contrast that to the UK where the ability to send free person-to-person payments has been integrated directly into the banking system for decades, and does not have it’s own brand, or app or anything.