In fact, it made two.
For those who are unaware, the bank has indicated on the plaque displaying the card as "for those who value exclusivity in it's most extinguished form."
The correct wordings should be "for those who value exclusivity in its most distinguished form."
This incident came to light when a Facebook user Mick Price shared a photo of it online.
Soon, it attracted lots of comments. Some joked that the bank was too stingy to engage a good copywriter. Some took a dig at the bank with the word extinguished.
The bank quickly apologized the next day and promised not to let such thing happens again.
The head of cards and payments at UOB Singapore, Ms Choo Wan Sim said the promotional text was printed for a table display at a private event last night. It was an oversight during their clearance process.
This is actually a very small matter as it didn't cause any serious harm to anyone.
As with any small mistake that can easily be rectified, the bank apologized and moved on as per standard operating procedure.
It's really those kind of thing where you get three seconds of infamous fame online. Very soon, most people are going to forget about this thing.
What we are not interested in is how such a big prestigious corporation can make such silly mistake, which unfortunately most do. We are not interested in what companies can do to prevent themselves from making such mistakes.
What's interesting is the behavior of the person who posted the photo online.
According to the bank's website, the UOB Reserve Card is issued to UOB Privilege Reserve wealth management service clients. To qualify for UOB Privilege Reserve, customers must maintain a minimum balance of S$2 million in deposits and/or investment. Membership is strictly by invitation only, with an annual fee.
Based on the photo uploaded by Mick, it does seem that he was one of the invited guest at the private event (see the dining ware behind the plaque) and he is a privileged customer of the bank.
As a privileged customer, he would enjoy special relationship with the bank.
Why then did he upload the photo which he knew would cause embarrassment to the bank? Did he upload it for that five minutes of fame? Why didn't he tell his relationship manager?
Did other guests at the event saw the mistakes as well? Would someone do the same as Mick? If no one spots the mistakes, does it mean the image the bank is trying to create is forgettable? Or perhaps no one read it except Mick?