Paying With Shielded ZEC Through Zodl and Flexa
Zashi is now called Zodl. The wallet still supports Flexa payments with shielded ZEC at thousands of retail locations. The payment is private on the Zcash blockchain, but it is not anonymous to Flexa.
What changed: Zashi became Zodl in February 2026. Existing users did not need a new wallet, seed phrase, or transfer. If an older guide tells you to install Zashi, look for Zodl instead.
What the payment flow does
Zodl is a self-custody Zcash wallet. Its current product page lists Flexa as the checkout service for purchases at major merchants including GameStop, Sheetz, and Chipotle. Flexa says its wallet components support payments at thousands of merchant locations.
Zodl sends shielded ZEC into the Flexa payment flow. Flexa authorizes the purchase and the merchant receives its chosen settlement currency. The merchant does not need to receive or manage ZEC directly.
| Layer | What it can see or do |
|---|---|
| Public Zcash chain | A shielded transfer does not publish the transaction details exposed by a transparent ZEC transfer. |
| Zodl wallet | Zodl says it does not collect wallet activity, balances, transaction history, clicks, or in-app behavior analytics. |
| Flexa | Flexa processes the retail payment, monitors transactions, and may collect identity, IP address, device, and service-use data. |
| Merchant | The merchant receives payment confirmation and settlement through Flexa rather than handling ZEC directly. |
Install or update Zodl
Zodl is available through the Apple App Store, Google Play, F-Droid, and its public source repositories. The F-Droid listing identifies Zcash Open Development Lab as the author and links the current Android source. Existing Zashi installations update under the new name.
- Install Zodl from an official store listing or the project's official source repository.
- Create a wallet or restore your existing Zashi wallet.
- Record the recovery phrase offline. Anyone with it can control the wallet.
- Let the wallet finish syncing before receiving or spending funds.
Fund the shielded balance
Zodl can receive transparent ZEC and then shield it. Its current product page says the app prompts users to shield a detected transparent balance. A transfer from a transparent address remains visible on the public chain before shielding, and the service that sent it may retain account and withdrawal records.
Do not treat shielding as deletion of earlier records. It changes what later Zcash transactions reveal publicly. It does not erase records held by an exchange, wallet provider, network operator, or payment processor.
Pay through Flexa
Zodl's Android release history says the Flexa feature moved to More options. The exact labels can change between releases.
- Open More options and choose Pay with Flexa.
- Complete Flexa's registration or verification prompts. Flexa's terms permit it to request a legal name, date of birth, address, email address, and other identity information.
- Select an available merchant inside the Flexa flow.
- Generate the payment code and present it at checkout. Some terminals process the code through the gift-card scanner.
- Check the amount and merchant before approving the shielded ZEC transaction.
- Keep the receipt. Flexa says merchant refunds may be issued as cash, store credit, a future Flexa credit, or the original payment currency at the prevailing exchange rate.
Flexa is a regulated payment service. Its current terms allow identity checks, suspicious-activity monitoring, a weekly payment limit, and payment holds or refusals. Its privacy policy permits collection and disclosure that goes beyond what appears on the Zcash blockchain.
Privacy boundaries
- Shielded does not mean invisible: it protects transaction details on the public Zcash chain. It does not hide the purchase from the payment processor or the merchant's physical checkout systems.
- Flexa may identify the user: its terms allow identity verification and say each Flexa account is tied to one verifiable identity.
- Flexa monitors funds: its terms say it monitors suspicious activity and suspicious origins of funds through third-party providers.
- The phone still emits metadata: the app needs network access. Device, IP address, account, store, and network records can exist outside the Zcash chain.
- Availability changes: supported merchants, locations, payment limits, and app menus can change. Check the live app before relying on a specific store.
Sources
- Zodl: current wallet features and Flexa payments
- Zodl: Zashi rebrand notice
- Zodl Android source and release history
- F-Droid: Zodl Android package
- Flexa terms of service
- Flexa privacy policy
- Flexa: original Zashi integration announcement
Information is provided for educational purposes. Features, limits, and merchant availability can change. Commercial disclosure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Zashi still available?
Zashi was renamed Zodl in 2026. Existing Zashi installations update to Zodl without requiring a new wallet, seed phrase, or transfer.
Can Zodl still pay through Flexa?
Yes. Zodl lists Flexa payments at thousands of retail locations as a current feature. The Android source and current release history also retain the Flexa integration.
Is a Flexa payment anonymous?
No. Shielded ZEC limits what appears publicly on the Zcash blockchain, but Flexa operates the payment service. Its current terms allow identity verification, transaction monitoring, payment limits, holds, and disclosure to law enforcement. Its privacy policy also describes collection of identity, device, IP address, and service-use data.
Does Flexa charge the customer a fee?
Flexa currently states that it charges no customer fee for using its service. Its terms also set a weekly payment limit and permit payments to be delayed, held, returned, or blocked for compliance reasons.