The payment service banks hope will kill Venmo is called 'Zelle'

Next year, will we be "zelle-ing" people to pay them back for dinner?

The payment service that banks hope will quash Venmo will be called Zelle, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. A spokeswoman for the service confirmed the name to Mashable.

The payment platform already exists as clearXchange, but will be rebranded as Zelle in the coming months. It's been around since 2011.

Right now, clearXchange users can send money to people at other banks through clearXchange's website and through their own bank's website or mobile app. Users need a checking account and an email address or cell phone number.

A spokeswoman for clearXchange couldn't comment on whether Zelle will develop its own mobile app. That will likely be key, however, in the fight against Venmo.

Venmo is owned by PayPal, while clearXchange/Zelle partners directly with major banks.

The popularity of money transfer apps has grown quickly, with Venmo sometimes processing as much as $1 billion in payments each month.

So will a less clunky name help Zelle take a chunk of that billion?

Maybe if people hear "Zelle" and think of "a speedy gazelle," as a source told the Wall Street Journal the company is hoping.