Ripple purpose

Yes they have contracts with banks but banks don’t need Ripple , they need blockchain.

The Ripple Consensus Protocol cannot exist without XRP , although it could still endure should Ripple, the company, fail. The RCL supports transactions of fiat currency, cryptocurrency, commodities or any other unit of value such as frequent flier miles or mobile minutes.

According to Ripple CTO Stefan Thomas, XRP is quicker and cheaper at fractions of a penny and about three seconds faster per transaction compared to other digital assets. 2 XRP offers other advantages as well: using XRP, banks can source liquidity on-demand in real-time without having to pre-fund nostro accounts .