Former eBay executive David Marcus, who served as President of PayPal and landed at Facebook in 2014, announced the social media company is rebranding its payments division to Novi.
The move comes at the same time the Facebook corporate entity is rebranding to “Meta” (in much the same way Google rebranded its corporate parent to “Alphabet” in 2015).
Novi is also the name of Facebook’s digital wallet for its Libra cryptocurrency that launched in May 2020, when it explained the name: “Novi was inspired by the Latin words “novus” for “new” and “via” for “way.” It’s a new way to send money, and Novi’s new visual identity and design represent the fluid movement of digital currencies. We’ve also included a nod to the Libra icon in the brand logo to underscore our commitment to the Libra network.”
At the time Facebook launched Novi last year, it said:
“Novi Financial was founded with the mission of making money work better for everyone. We believe that all people around the world should have equal access to financial services. The first product Novi Financial will introduce is the Novi digital wallet designed for Libra, a new payment system which is built on innovative blockchain technology. Novi Financial is a subsidiary of Facebook, Inc. and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.”
The following is David Marcus’s announcement on LinkedIn about the payments/financial unit’s rebranding:
“Today with Facebook becoming Meta, we’re unifying our payments and financial services unit and products under the @Novi brand. Let me unpack what this will mean across Meta.
“We’ve been in the business of facilitating payments across our apps for over a decade, and we’ve processed over $100B in the last 12 months across our products. These experiences range from person-to-person payments in the US in Messenger, in Brazil and India in WhatsApp, enabling our donations product, facilitating checkout for merchants, enabling advertisers to easily buy ads, and now allowing cross-border payments with the Novi pilot. Some of these products are branded Facebook Pay, some are unbranded, and our wallet operates under the Novi brand. So over time, we will unify all existing and future payments and financial services experiences under the Novi brand.
“With this change, we’re also transitioning our group name from F2 (Facebook Financial) to Novi.
“Our mission remains to empower everyone, everywhere to access the world’s financial system to accelerate financial inclusion and economic empowerment.
“I’m excited about the future ahead, and the role Novi will play in enabling people and businesses to move money in more and cheaper ways, and innovate in the Metaverse for creators and consumers alike.
“Onward!
“PS: we’re hiring, so come join us to build the future of digital payments and financial services! Open roles here: https://lnkd.in/g-x3m8qV”
