> Much of US banking operates almost entirely on this premise and has done so forever.

I might be mistaken, but isn't banking famous for

(1) the long hours (i.e., processes suck), (2) the drudgery of updating said Excel files (i.e., processes suck) (3) horribly expensive to access (i.e., processes suck)

I have never once in my life as a corporate lawyer thought of banking as a model of operational efficiency.