RTP and FedNow Questions?

Hi there!

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I was hoping someone who works in banking at a lower level could help me understand RTP and FedNow's actual usage. I'm just a consumer but I've always had an interest in the technologies behind banking.

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At first when I heard about it years ago, it came across sounding similar to how zelle works but through a government clearing house - ultimately making me think that we'd be going in the direction of something like instant ACHs.

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I've come to realize that RTP and FedNow doesn't really serve consumers, as any transfers we can make will fall to ACH. What is the actual purpose of these payment networks? What benefit does it serve the banks or customers if it's not really used for its benefits in daily practice? Is early pay something that comes from these networks or is it usually used for back office large transfers? I know zelle is customer facing and that the banks typically front you the money then behind the scenes pay the receiving bank - but even that structure wouldn't really use these networks because why do that if external bank to bank transfers were instant?

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I just can't really wrap my head around what it's actually used for and what benefits it brings since it's not customer facing.

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Thank you for your time! It's pure curiosity that won't really benefit me in any way, but has been a question for some time now lol