One has become somewhat inured to the mangling of the language in pursuit of profit, but I was taken aback by the latest promotion by UOB bank in Singapore - " Fund Transfer - The smarter way to get cash in your hand!"
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has been trying to rein in the banks operating in Singapore which have been aggressively selling credit cards and lines of credit. There is a long standing rule that banks may not extend more than twice the monthly salary of the borrower in credit.
The banks have tried a number of semantic twists to get around the rules, including debit cards that allow overdrafts. Um, isn't that a credit card?
Now comes "Fund Transfer". Looking at the application form, it is just another way of advancing funds against a credit card. I would have thought that one would have to HAVE funds in order to do a fund transfer, but apparently this is no longer necessary.
In a perverse way, one has to admire the creativity:
- debit=credit
- derivative contract=structured deposit
- debt=fund transfer
- time deposit=perpetual deposit.
And while we are on the topic of mangling language, how come everything gets a superflous "s" (staffs, softwares, hardwares) except when it is needed as in Funds Transfer?
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