Libra's corporate backers are backing out. Over the last two months, we've seen PayPal, Mastercard, Visa, eBay, and Stripe all exit the Libra Association. The ship jumping came at a particularly bad time for Mark Zuckerberg who also faced a Capitol Hill grilling in October.
While Libra is currently on the ropes with regulators, we wanted to know how consumers felt about Libra. It is still early days and basic awareness is low. But our research suggests that Facebook's Libra is still in the fight.
When we consider trends in financial technology market research, there is a pattern. It often begins with early alarm and resistance to innovations that change the way we pay. Online banking, online shopping, online investing, peer-to-peer payments. All were once met with regulatory and consumer suspicion. And all followed a similar path to adoption. This is, in part, why we don't think Libra should be counted out.
Insight Analysis And Consulting firm Grail Insights recently conducted a survey of 1,000 US consumers to understand awareness and perceptions of Facebook's foray into digital currency. Not surprisingly, awareness was low, with 66% having never heard of Libra. For those over 34 years old, 72% had no awareness of Libra. Only 8% claimed to be "very familiar," and this skewed male and under 34. This is typical of early awareness in the technology realm.