On the other hand: transaction times are pretty fast and fees are usually pretty low, so it is perfectly usable.
Perfectly usable for what? Is anyone using it for said purpose?
yes the only thing ripple can do is doing fast transaction. so basicaly ripple has no value beside transaction. better invest in XLM they even have a charity to make world better. but i would choose IOTA even thought iota is not base on blockchain but they have briliant idea for transaction security.