• The transaction enables the Bank to access a new payment system that allows cash purchases using the vending machines network

• The new capital will allow MatiPay to speed up its internationalisation process

• The investment was made through Neva Finventures, the Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center’s Corporate Venture Capital vehicle

Bari, 9 October 2019 – The Intesa Sanpaolo Group has invested 7 million euro in the share capital of MatiPay, a Fintech start-up founded by Matteo Pertosa and created in the IoT division of Sitael which is part of the Angel Group. News of the investment was announced today during the event ‘Finance with innovation – What can be done to make the country grow. The real-life case of MatiPay’, hosted at the Sitael headquarters in Mola di Bari (BA).

MatiPay has developed a new payment system for purchasing services and products online with cash, using the physical network of banknote readers and coin acceptors with which vending machines are equipped.

Thanks to this transaction, which is in line with the Group’s continuous digital transformation strategy, the Bank expects important synergies in the mobile channel and in the integration of digital payment services that can be used through smartphones. In addition, Intesa Sanpaolo will be able to expand its range of asset management services through the integration with existing products or the development of new ones.

The transaction was carried out through Neva Finventures, the Corporate Venture Capital of Intesa Sanpaolo Innovation Center – the Group company chaired by Maurizio Montagnese and managed by Guido de Vecchi – which invests in fintech companies and start-ups that plan to enter key new markets and sectors such as the circular economy and the data-driven economy.

The new capital raised by MatiPay will allow the start-up to accelerate its growth in the international target markets, i.e. Europe, Japan and the USA, where the use of vending machines is widespread: it is estimated that the network consists of about 16 million machines.

MatiPay is a Digital Transformation solution for the vending industry and can be used to replace the current ‘physical’ key with a digital wallet installed on the users’ smartphone and topped up both with cash, using coin or banknote acceptors, and via credit card. MatiPay will also make it possible to reach customers who are not bank customers, such as young people who do not yet have a credit card.

MatiPay technology, applied to vending machines and combined with the Artificial Intelligence platform and a dedicated management system, can increase the turnover of operators in the vending industry and offer end-customers new services such as paying for digital goods with cash.

‘We believe that innovation is an essential element for guaranteeing a competitive economy,’ stated Carlo Messina, CEO and Managing Director of Intesa Sanpaolo, ‘and Corporate Venture Capital, in the ecosystem of innovators, is a model of global growth that encourages technology and entrepreneurial initiative, especially among young people. MatiPay is an example of this; it is a partner with enormous potential in the fintech area which will help accelerate the Group’s leadership in digital payment systems. This project opens a new strategic perspective because it leverages the DNA of three generations of innovators – in key sectors such as aerospace, railway and Internet of Things -, fulfils the dream of a young entrepreneur to develop new technologies in his country to be spread around the world, and invests in a land rich in values where tradition and innovation can serve as an example to be replicated for the growth of the country’.

‘The financial resources will help MatiPay continue its international growth’, stated Matteo Pertosa, CEO of Sitael and MatiPay. ‘We chose Intesa Sanpaolo both for the industrial partnership and for the affinity we have with its managerial values, which make Intesa a bank that supports the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the growth of the real economy’.

Neva Finventures is the Corporate Venture Capital vehicle of Intesa Sanpaolo dedicated to strategic Group investments with up to 100 million euro’s worth of start-up capital. It generally invests with minority stakes in fintech companies that can become complementary to the Group’s activities, with preferential reference markets such as Europe, Israel and the USA. In Italy, it also invests in non-fintech initiatives with the ambition to position Intesa Sanpaolo as a key partner for start-ups that intend to penetrate new markets and key industries, focusing on the circular economy and the data-driven economy. Neva Finventures also invests in Venture Capital funds.

MatiPay is a fintech start-up belonging to the Angel Group, the Italian holding company and a world leader in the Railway, Aerospace and Aeronautics markets, which has developed an innovative mobile payment and telemetry system for the vending industry. MatiPay transforms vending machines into smart points of sale, allowing products to be purchased quickly and easily via an app and efficient optimisation of operator management activities. Available for iOS and Android, MatiPay guarantees a complete user experience thanks to the combination of an immediate connection between the vending machines and the mobile App with a virtual wallet that can be topped up via coin acceptor, credit card or PayPal. The system can be easily integrated with vending machines ready to be installed or already in use. Moreover, thanks to the use of an intelligent platform and a dedicated CRM system, it supports operators in the vending industry by enhancing real-time telemetry features. In 2019 MatiPay was awarded the CES 2019 Innovation Award in the payment platform category at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas – the world’s largest trade show for technological innovation.