What to say about the US (and Canada) where cheap transfers between bank accounts don't exist (at least from individual to individual)

Yes, where it exists it's rarely instantaneous across banks

There was a good Planet Money episode on this phenomenon[1].

The short version is that, apparently unlike most European countries, there are thousands and thousands of banks in the U.S., each operating under both Federal and one of 50 different state regulatory regimes.

It's also the case that the U.S. was one of the first countries to move to electronic interbank check clearing and funds transfer, and the resulting clearinghouse is a big hairy legacy system that they're not particularly inclined or motivated to mess with.

[1] http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2013/10/04/229224964/episo...

Well, it sounds really impolite saying that. But you can probably guess what I think of it: I think it is really strange that a nation as modern as the USA is in that regard 100 years behind basically all other industrial nations.

Though instantaneous they are also not in Germany, can take some time to arrive.

Sure they do, in Canada anyway. Interac email transfer is quick and painless, although it costs a dollar or so.

Not really, because the reference is their email (and the receiver has to 'receive' it), no?

I'm talking about giving someone your bank/branch/acc number and send them a payment.