The Intesa Sanpaolo Group enters with an investment of 7 million euros in the capital of MatiPay, a Fintech startup founded by Matteo Pertosa and born in the IOT division of Sitael, part of the Angel Group. The announcement came today during the event “Finance with innovation – What can be done to make the country grow. The concrete case of MatiPay”, hosted at the Sitael headquarters in Mola di Bari (BA). MatiPay has developed a new payment system that allows online purchases of services and products with cash, using the physical network of the banknote readers and coin acceptors of the vending machines.
Thanks to this operation, in line with the strategy of continuous digital transformation of the Group, the Bank expects important synergies in the mobile channel and in the integration of digital payment services that can be used via smartphone. In addition, Intesa Sanpaolo will be able to expand its range of asset management services, through integration with existing products or the development of new ones. The operation was carried out through Neva Finventures, the Corporate Venture Capital headed by Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center - a company of the banking group chaired by Maurizio Montagnese and directed by Guido de Vecchi - and which invests in fintech companies and startups intending to enter in new markets and key sectors such as the circular economy and data-driven economy. The new capital raised by MatiPay will allow the startup to accelerate its growth in the international markets of reference, namely Europe, Japan and the USA, where the presence of vending machines is widespread: an estimated network of around 16 million devices .
MatiPay is one Digital Transformation solution of the vending industry and makes it possible to replace the current "physical" key with a digital wallet installed on users' smartphones and rechargeable both with cash, to be inserted in vending machines, and by credit card. MatiPay will also make it possible to reach non-banked customers, such as for example the youngest who do not yet have a credit card. The MatiPay technology, applied to vending machines and combined with the Artificial Intelligence platform and a dedicated management system, is able to enhance the business volume of operators operating in the vending machine industry and to offer end customers new services such as payment of digital goods through cash.
“We believe that innovation is a key element to ensure the competitiveness of the economic system – he says Carlo Messina, CEO and Managing Director of Intesa Sanpaolo – and Corporate Venture Capital, in the ecosystem of innovators, is a model of global growth, which enhances technology and entrepreneurial initiative, especially of the youngest. MatiPay is an example of this, it is a partner with great potential in the fintech field that will be able to help accelerate our Group's leadership in digital payment systems. This project opens up a new strategic perspective because it enhances the DNA of three generations of innovators - in key sectors such as aerospace, railway and internet of things -, realizes the dream of a young entrepreneur of developing new technologies in his area to bring to the world and invests in a land rich in values where tradition and innovation can represent an example to be replicated for the growth of the country".
“The financial resources put in place will help MatiPay's international growth path” – he says Matteo Pertosa, CEO of Sitael and MatiPay. "We chose Intesa Sanpaolo both for the industrial partnership and for the harmony we have found in the managerial values, which make Intesa a bank that supports the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the growth of the real economy".
