Today, the company has officially announced a digital wallet service named Calibra. The company managing this wallet is going to be a subsidiary of Facebook and will be operating independently from the social media giant.
How can you use Calibra?
Calibra is going to be available as a standalone app on the App Store and Play Store. Apart from that, users can also use Libra within Facebook’s own messaging apps including WhatsApp and Messenger, making it much more accessible. It will make sending and receiving money between users just like exchanging text messages. In order to be eligible to use Calibra, users will need to present a valid government-issued ID to sign up. Do note, one doesn’t need to have a Facebook or WhatsApp account to create an account on Calibra.
For businesses, small merchants will be able to accept payment from its customers in Libra. Currently, in the first version of Calibra, only peer-to-peer payments or a transaction between two parties using the internet are supported. QR codes will also be supported. Facebook plans to later integrate other methods including in-store payments and POS systems.
What is Libra?
Calibra is going to be part of the Libra global cryptocurrency network. As already mentioned, Facebook had been working for a while on building its own cryptocurrency. Based on the Libra Blockchain, it’s backed by the Libra Reserve. If you have the slightest idea about blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, you must have heard about the volatile nature of digital currency, especially with Bitcoin. To make Libra more reliable, the cryptocurrency is backed by the Libra Reserve that Facebook says is “a collection of currencies and other assets used as collateral for every Libra that is created”.
How safe is Calibra?
Fraud detection is a feature of cryptocurrency, or rather, the underlying blockchain technology, so fraudulent transactions will be easy to catch. The same feature is present on Calibra as well. While cryptocurrency enables anonymous transactions, the company is taking a slightly different approach. Since all the accounts are linked with a government-approved identity, every transaction and account can be easily verified.
The service will have dedicated customer service to handle these issues and allow users to report any fraudulent transactions using an in-app reporting system. Calibra says that if an unauthorised or fraudulent transaction happens, a full refund will be initiated.
In the case of data privacy, Calibra claims that customer account information and financial data won’t be shared with Facebook or any third-party “without the customer’s consent”. However, considering that it’s a subsidiary of Facebook, Facebook's loose interpretation of user consent and privacy, and the numerous security lapses in the past, it would be wise to think twice before signing up for the service.