Matera is a new Sponsor of the MAG joining, in 2024. Matera provides solutions such as QR code payments software to help accelerate the adoption of pay-by-bank. The MAG sat down with Carlos Netto, CEO/Co-Founder of Matera, to discuss how they decided to sponsor the Merchant Advisory Group.
1. Why did you join the MAG?
We’re sponsoring the MAG to explore how we can help accelerate the adoption of pay-by-bank in the U.S., to help merchants and billers lower their cost of payments and offer a 100% mobile payments experience for their customers.
Matera is a software company headquartered in Brazil with over 30 years of experience. In Brazil, over 2 billion instant payments per month involve consumers paying merchants instantly from their bank accounts.
2. What about MAG sponsorship excites you the most?
Having the opportunity to engage directly with merchants is what excites us most. We want to learn from merchants, big and small, and in different verticals, about their payments pain points to understand how we can help.
3. What is a payments topic that is of interest to you now?
Pay-by-bank is the topic that most interests me, especially because of its potential to simplify and reduce the cost of receiving payments.
The U.S. is a very different market than Brazil, but there seems to be a big momentum swing happening in the U.S. thanks to the rise of open banking, the successful launch of the FedNow instant payments rail, and the strong interest in merchants to find an alternative to minimizing interchange expense.
4. How long have you been involved in the payments industry?
Over 30 years. I started Matera in 1987 with 4 friends right out of university. We started by creating applications for banks in Brazil that needed to outsource their technology development. This led us to developing core banking modules for the industry. We now offer over 50 core banking modules.
In 2016, I developed a QR code solution that merchants and billers could use for payments, and, in 2023, was granted a patent in the U.S. for my Consumer Presented Mode QR Code solution.
When the Central Bank of Brazil formed a working group in 2018 to develop Pix, I joined the working group and was an active participant for the two years leading up to its launch. I was very involved in the development of Matera’s Pix solution for banks and payments institutions that we offered at launch.
5. What is one thing you would like to see the MAG offer its sponsors?
Any content you can share with sponsors that highlights the challenges of merchant is helpful. Perhaps a periodic survey of key topics to see what’s top of mind for them and how those changes over time.
6. What is something you are working on at Matera now, and how do you think being a MAG sponsor will help support you in this?
I’m very excited about the U.S. payment QR Code standard we’re currently working on with X9. The MAG is also participating in this work effort.
Payment QR codes are very different from URL QR codes that redirect users to a landing page to provide more information. Payment QR codes include all the information necessary to execute a payment without a consumer or merchant having to share financial account details.
A QR code payment standard has the potential to accelerate the adoption of instant payments, especially between consumers and merchants. FedNow and Real-Time Payments (RTP) are ready and waiting to be used. A QR code payment standard can make push payments a reality for merchants.