It's a great system for using fiat money and for transitioning to crypto. But crypto currency that doesn't need trust is even better. And of course, Ripple will help us get there.
I think you are hung to the crypto issue as that is about the only thing common with ripple and bitcoin. I happen to think that the crypto issue is just a small implementation detail that does not matter much in the big picture.
If Visa or Mastercard replace their internal network between the ATM nodes with some protocol that has crypto-properties it would change absolutely nothing and also if it would be possible to invent some bitcoin-like money without crypto, I could be totally open to such a proposal.