On Tuesday, Facebook launched a new digital wallet, Calibra. The wallet is said to provide financial services that will let people access and participate in the Libra network. The first task of Calibra is to introduce a digital wallet for Libra. Libra is the new cryptocurrency by Facebook.
“For many people around the world, even basic financial services are still out of reach: almost half of the adults in the world don’t have an active bank account and those numbers are worse in developing countries and even worse for women. The cost of that exclusion is high — approximately 70% of small businesses in developing countries lack access to credit and $25 billion is lost by migrants every yearthrough remittance fees,” Said Facebook in a statement.
Calibra is expected to launch in 2020. It will be available in Messenger, WhatsApp and as a standalone app. With this wallet, Facebook aims to bridge the banking gap for people all over the world.
“This is the challenge we’re hoping to address with Calibra, a new digital wallet that you’ll be able to use to save, send and spend Libra,” Facebook added. From the beginning, Calibra will let you send Libra to almost anyone with a smartphone, as easily and instantly as you might send a text message and at low to no cost.
Facebook plan to consult with experts to provide a wallet that is secured and easy to use for their customers. Calibra will not share account information or financial data with Facebook or any third party without customer consent. This means Calibra customers’ account information and financial data will not be used to improve advert targeting on the Facebook family of products.