Informational Overload

Bob Chamness, partner in the San Francisco office of McKenna & Fitting, was leading a session at the ABA Compliance Conference in Washington, DC in June. He pointed out that it has been proven that people will usually remember three things from a normal communication.

As a matter of fact, if correctly emphasized and repeated, maybe they will sometimes be able to remember between five and eight things.

After eight things, however, the average person can't prioritize and all is then lost in what is commonly known as an "informational overload."

As he was at the time expounding on the FDIC Improvement Act of 1991, he went on to say that informational overload is not a factor considered by the regulators.

It also will not be a factor for our customers when they start reading the disclosures on Truth In Savings!

Copyright © 1992 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 3, No. 3, 7/92