Because bitcoin relies on proof of work in order to determine consensus. Usually vendors require X confirmations, and confirmations happen every 10 minutes of s

Because bitcoin relies on proof of work in order to determine consensus. Usually vendors require X confirmations, and confirmations happen every 10 minutes of so (every time a block is mined). Ripple doesn't use proof of work, it relies on a web of trust. So, in order to transfer money from Bank A to Bank B, it relies on Bank A to have some path to Bank B that is trusted. If Bank A and Bank B don't trust each other, but both trust Bank C, then the money is routed through Bank C. Not sure what you mean by identity verification, if you're talking about for the customers, then they'd still need to have their identity verified at the bank (for purposes of Ripple, a bank is a ripple Gateway, but not all gateways are banks). Honestly, I'm an armchair expert in money transfer systems -- pretty familiar with Ripple, but less familiar with other systems.