Does Facebook Need A Humanitarian Partner For Its New Digital Currency?

It's not easy giving money to people in need.

In some countries, poor people may not have a bank account where a charity can transfer funds for financial aid. They may not have the ID — say, a birth certificate — required to cash a check at a bank.

And in an emergency situation — say, the aftermath of an earthquake — banks may not even be operating.

Could a single global digital currency — one that can be transferred through mobile phones — be a solution?

That's the way that Libra will operate. It's a new currency incubated at Facebook and announced in June. Libra, according to its website, wants to "reinvent" money by making a financial transaction as cheap and simple as "sending a text message or sharing a photo."

The main goal isn't to help out in humanitarian situations. But Mercy Corps, one of the world's largest relief groups, is so impressed with the potential benefits that it established a partnership with Libra this spring. And it's a high-profile partnership. When a Facebook executive testified about Libra before members of Congress this past week, he mentioned the Mercy Corps connection as a way of building up Libra's credentials.

But the partnership does raise questions. Not everyone in the aid from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for privacy violations.