Facebook announces Novi, a digital wallet for Libra

Novi is Facebook’s new name and brand for its digital wallet, enabling people to send and hold Libra digital currencies.

Inspired by the Latin words Novus and Via, which means “new way.” Novi was initially launched as Calibra but was renamed and rebranded. Nonetheless, it still shares a similar mission – to help people access affordable financial services.

Novi can be used as a stand-alone app, in Messenger, and WhatsApp. There are no hidden charges to add, send, receive, or withdraw money, and transfers are said to be instantaneous. Novi customers are required to use government-issued IDs for verification, and there are other fraud protections built into the app. A 24/7 chat-based support is also present to address its customers’ concerns.

Facebook hopes to introduce an early version of Novi as soon as the Libra network is available. The rollout will be limited to a few countries at a time, but cross-border transactions are still instant, secure, and free.

Check out Facebook’s full blog post here.