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embedding-shape • today at 4:48 PM • 7 replies • view on HN

Yeah, why on earth would they shove "Rail" into that name? I'm sure it makes sense internally, but as external name it doesn't make much sense. None of the people are even using the rail/train analogies that are right there, then what's the point even?!

> "Payment rail" is a very long established term og art.

Yes, by all means, use the existing terms internally, but when you launch things, remember you work in somewhat of a bubble, and figure out names that make sense to people. 99% of the people aren't gonna know about "payment rails", and when they hear "rails", they either think about trains, or they're a programmer and starts thinking about Ruby. And then of course there is a third group of people, like the ones that say "Payment rail is actually an established term".


Replies

NiloCK • today at 4:56 PM

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payment_rail

"Payment rail" is a very long established term og art.

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OJFord • today at 5:35 PM

> > "Payment rail" is a very long established term og art.

> Yes, by all means, use the existing terms internally, but when you launch things, remember you work in somewhat of a bubble, and figure out names that make sense to people.

This is to be used by people in the same bubble, and it does make sense, it's about as descriptive as it could be.

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dghlsakjg • today at 7:07 PM

99% of people aren't going to need to touch this. This is underlying infrastructure for banks to build on top of. Most people don't know what a clearing house is or what Payments Canada is or that most of their money passes through them, but they are still perfectly capable of understanding what direct deposit does - which relies on Payments Canada's clearing house.

bluebarbet • today at 6:34 PM

Agreed! I was thinking, "That's funny, I thought Canada's rail company was called ViaRail".

post-it • today at 5:19 PM

This isn't aimed at 99% of people. This is an interbank tool.

icecube123 • today at 5:10 PM

The name threw me off as well. This is what happens when you don’t have a good marketing team.