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> But, in the US your level of direct payment options are frankly shite.

This is completely untrue.

> In india, direct transfer is free and mostly instant, same in the UK/EU.

Zelle is an instant payment-by-email network created by the US banks and is accepted basically everywhere.

And there are still other options like FedNow.

Zelle seems more complex in terms of access, slower, and less universal (inside the covered zone) than IBAN based instant bank transfers. Users need to enroll using their phone number and / or an email, when IBAN instant transfer is available by default. They say that transfers "often" happen in minutes, when instant transfer via IBAN happen in a few seconds, always. The FAQ also covers issues enrolling, which means that users are not guaranteed to be enrolled. It’s an out of band process with it seems email or phone number as the ID. It seems the recipient has to enroll beforehand which is another complication (IBAN being the bank number you have the guarantee that your recipient exists and can receive the funds instantly) Zelle feels more like a system added on top, IBAN instant transfer is an extension of the existing bank transfer system, used and found at the same place UI-wise.

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