There is a system called Faster Payments in the UK, which is "near instantaneous" between the UK banks which participate (most of them offering current accounts

There is a system called Faster Payments in the UK, which is "near instantaneous" between the UK banks which participate (most of them offering current accounts as far as i know). But it is a permanent and final transfer, no easy charge backs like with a credit card, or fraud protection from debit cards. You have to know which account you are paying into (sort code and account number), which is the main part of what Visa/Mastercard do. They are the layer in front of the bank account which means customers don't have to send money directly to an account. I suppose now everyone has a smart phone it would be easier to hook up something like Faster Payments in a user friendly way with an app and a QR code/NFC reader that the merchant has. But Visa/Mastercard are entrenched obviously.