This is slightly better in some places. I can, for instance, issue a Faster Payment to another UK bank account. This takes seconds. It's fast enough for payment

This is slightly better in some places. I can, for instance, issue a Faster Payment to another UK bank account. This takes seconds. It's fast enough for payment transactions. And intermediates like GoCardless make this easier and for very small sums (£2 fixed, no upper limit). I completely agree though. If your bank's aren't going to guarantee anything tighter than a 3 day turnaround, they're useless here.