Facebook is rebranding the wallet from Calibra to Novi, and said plans for Novi have not changed, which means eventually users will be able to use it as a standalone app to send and receive money, as well as in Facebook’s other apps such as Messenger and WhatsApp.

Laura Morgan Walsh, head of operations at Novi, said: “At Novi, we are striving to make money move more freely around the world and to help people access affordable financial services.

The company said that the new name was inspired by the Latin words “novus” and “via,” which mean “new” and “way,” respectively. Novi Financial is the new name of the Facebook subsidiary that will develop the company’s digital wallet.

A new name is just the latest in a series of changes Facebook has made to its digital currency plans. Although Facebook initially said that there would be a single Libra coin pegged to a collection of national currencies, it now plans to have multiple digital coins pegged to individual currencies in addition to a combined Libra currency. Novi’s website says that, initially, these could include currencies like the US dollar, the British pound, and the Euro.

With the new name, Facebook’s digital wallet is also getting a new logo. Novi’s logo ditches the old design of Calibra in favor of a stylized version of its name, with the Libra logo contained within its “o.” While Libra will be run by a nonprofit association supported by a range of companies and organizations, Facebook houses Novi, a digital wallet for storing and exchanging the digital coin.

Despite these changes, Facebook says its mission for Novi and Libra remains the same: it wants to make sending money as easy as “sending a message.” It plans to make both a standalone Novi app as well as a version that integrates with its WhatsApp and Messenger messaging services to let you send money to your contacts. Facebook says that you’ll need to use a government-issued ID to sign up for the service, but it promises this transfer will happen with no hidden fees and that users will have access to 24/7 chat-based support. Facebook hasn’t announced a launch date so far. An early version of Novi will be introduced in select countries once Libra is available and it has secured the necessary licenses and approval, Facebook said

Source- CNBC