Matera Acquires Cinnecta to Combine AI and Instant Payments

Brazilian payments FinTech Matera has acquired artificial intelligence (AI)-powered customer retention firm Cinnecta.

“By aligning forces, Matera and Cinnecta will enable clients to enhance their sales capabilities by delivering intelligent, actionable insights,” the company said in a news release Tuesday (Aug. 15). “With meaningful data, clients can offer their customers a broader range of products and services tailored to their needs, precisely when they need them.”

The company said it worked with “MIT Ph.D. consultants,” to confirm that Connecta’s AI capabilities were up to snuff.

Carlos Netto, Matera’s co-founder and CEO, said the deal lets customers of the combined company add value to transactions on Brazil’s Pix payments system by connecting retail banks with other clients offering merchant services.

“This integration aims to not only increase transaction volumes but also foster client retention and augment their business potential around Pix,” Netto said.

Pix, implemented by the Central Bank of Brazil in 2020, is used by a majority of Brazilians. As noted here last year, the system’s “payments options are proving to be a huge substitute for cash and ACH transactions, and are being used in everyday purchases.”

PYMNTS made that observation in an interview with Patrick Devlin, president of Matera, who said his company is setting the stage for the United States to see similar traction, especially after the debut of the FedNow system.

“When we heard about the launch of instant payments in U.S. — with the prior success with RTP and now the new launch of FedNow, we looked at our solution in Brazil, and saw this would be a great fit,” he told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster.

However, Devlin acknowledged that no two markets are precisely the same, noting that Pix’s success in Brazil has boiled down to a few key factors. For example, the central bank mandates the use of Pix’s instant payments software for the country’s large banks.

“With all of this leadership,” he said, “it made it a lot easier for the Brazilian market to not only roll out instant payments but to do it consistently.”

Merchant acceptance has also proved critical, and Devlin noted that a merchant network developed independently of the banks.

As to the major differences between the U.S. and Brazil, according to Devlin’s assessment: With the central bank mandates in place, a substantial number of consumers who did not have access to traditional financial services gained entry into the system.