Intesa Sanpaolo invests €7m into vending machine digital wallet MatiPay
Italian banking group Intesa Sanpaolo’s corporate venture arm Neva Finventures has invested €7 million into vending machine mobile payments provider MatiPay.
The AI-powered MatiPay app has a digital wallet which can be topped up with cash or credit card
The southern Italian fintech will use the new capital injection to expand its operations in Europe, Japan and the US, which collectively hold 16 million machines with MatiPay installed.
The AI-powered MatiPay app has a digital wallet which can be topped up with cash or credit card. This design lends itself to the younger generation, with no need for a bank account or credit card if the users chooses cash. It can also be used for online purchases too, such as booking travel tickets or topping up your mobile phone.
“We believe that innovation is an essential element for guaranteeing a competitive economy,” says Intesa Sanpaolo CEO and MD Carlo Messina. “[MatiPay] is a partner with enormous potential in the fintech area which will help accelerate the Group’s leadership in digital payment systems.”
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Messina says this project “fulfils the dream of a young entrepreneur to develop new technologies in his country to be spread around the world”.
Founded by Matteo Pertosa, the fintech was created in the Internet of Things (IoT) division of the largest privately-owned space company in Italy – Sitael, an Angel Group company.
Pertosa says: “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.”
