Facebook has revealed it is rebranding its Calibra digital wallet as Novi.
A company blog post said that the Novi name ‘was inspired by the Latin words “novus” for “new” and “via” for “way,’ and comes with a new logo that keeps the old Libra logo placed within the ‘o’.
The US social networking giant has made several other changes to its digital currency plans, which were announced last June. Although Facebook had initially intended to have a single Libra coin pegged to multiple fiat currencies, it now aims to have many digital coins, each pegged to a distinct currency, along with a combined Libra currency.
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Calibra rebrand
Facebook maintains that the goals for the Novi brand and Libra currency remain unchanged: to make ‘sending money… as easy as sending a message’.
Novi will be available as a standalone app, as well as through Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Government-issued identification will be mandatory for sign-ups, Facebook said, adding that there will be no hidden fees and that users will have 24/7 customer support.
The company has not yet announced any launch date for Novi, opting instead to say that an ‘early version’ of the service will be introduced when the Libra network is available.
Facebook's plans for Calibra and Libra have been hit by a number of issues since launch, with several major financial backers and firms pulling their support.
Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, eBay and Stripe are among the names to have dropped their backing of the system, however Facebook still plans to go ahead with promoting both products.
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Via: The Verge
