Calibra, founding Libra Association member, Facebook subsidiary and Libra wallet provider has announced a rebrand, becoming Novi.
The rebranding announcement reaffirms the wallet provider's commitment to make financial services more accessible, and gives some insight into the wallet's intended functionality, claiming:
With Novi, sending money will be as easy as sending a message. You’ll be able to use Novi as a stand-alone app, as well as in Messenger and WhatsApp. There will be no hidden charges to add, send, receive, or withdraw money and your transfers will arrive instantly.
While this was never in doubt, the announcement also confirms that Novi users will be required to have their identity verified using government issued ID.
Those optimistic few hoping for a concrete release date will continue to be disappointed as the announcement simply confirmed what we already knew, that Novi would only see a limited release in an "initial set of countries", and would be launched "when the Libra network is available".
Beyond Novi, Libra generally appears to be steadily gaining momentum following its early setbacks, after recently amending its whitepaper, submitting its licence application with FINMA, and adding three new members to the Libra Association.
Whether Libra will see the light of day in 2020 however, is still up for debate.