Matera acquired Cinnecta for an undisclosed amount to enhance its instant payments and QR-code payments solutions with AI capabilities

Major Brazilian fintech player Matera, which has recently entered the US market as well, has acquired local data intelligence company Cinnecta. The acquisition will enable Matera to enhance its financial products with AI actionable insights.

Cinnecta’s AI solutions revolve around customer retention, loyalty and enhancing digital experiences. Since Matera offers payment services to business customers as part of the country’s Pix instant payments ecosystem, now Pix payments via its platform get additional value.

The firm will leverage Cinnecta’s AI capabilities to better tailor products and services to financial institutions, credit card companies and consumers. Besides, thorough data analysis and AI-enabled actionable insights can potentially boost clients’ sales capabilities.

“This integration aims to not only increase transaction volumes but also foster client retention and augment their business potential around Pix,” says Carlos Netto, Matera’s Co-Founder and CEO.

Matera has reportedly been long eyeing a prospective AI solution to enhance its business offering. After a meticulous research, the fintech chose Cinnecta based in Belo Horizonte, often regarded as Brazil’s AI Valley.

The combined company will be able to innovate on a new scale and provide greater quality client experiences.

“We are fully aligned with Matera’s vision for payments and banking technology in Brazil and its US expansion,” said Cinnecta Co-founder and CEO Eduardo Ferreira. “This is an incredibly exciting time to join the company, with Matera pushing into new territories. This represents an opportunity to apply our technology to transform an industry.”

According to data retrieved by Matera from the Central Bank of Brazil, in Q2 2023, there were more Pix transactions in Brazil than credit and debit card payments combined. Pix also accounted for 35% of all transactions in Q1 2023, up from 23% a year ago.

As for Matera’s share in Pix ecosystem, its instant payment software processes over 3 billion instant payment transactions a year, 20% initiated by QR code, according to the company’s data. Therefore, Matera estimates itself to be the largest third-party provider of Pix instant payments with over 10% share in general payment volume.