This $1.2 billion San Diego fintech unicorn backed by Bridgepoint says its new payments partnership with JPMorgan is a 'game-changer'

Kyriba

Kyriba

• Treasury and liquidity manager Kyriba just partnered with JPMorgan Chase to send real-time payments in the US.
• Clients of the company, valued at $1.2 billion, will now access JPMorgan's "application programming interface," or API, to allows clients of both firms to send payments.
• Kyriba clients include HSBC and music streaming service Spotify, and it has received funding from funds including Bridgepoint.

Financial management technology firm Kyriba says it's partnering with JPMorgan Chase for a real-time payments service - a move that the San-Diego based company calls a "game changer."

Kyriba, founded in 2000, will use JPMorgan's "application programming interface," or API, to allows clients of both firms to send payments in the US via a network. Kyriba says its services "bridge global financial systems, empowering finance executives to more efficiently mobilize their global cash and liquidity."

"CFOs are predominantly concerned about access to cash and asset protection in the form of interest rates and FX hedging, alongside compliance and security, and we can offer that," said Kyriba's CEO Jean-Luc Robert, in an interview with Business Insider.

The unicorn has received heavy backing from major funds such as Bridgepoint, and will soon be able to offer access to JPMorgan Chase's real time payments service. Kyriba helps corporates and CFOs manage liquidity, as well as compliance and FX risk, through a software which allows businesses to identify payments across their company in real-time.

"Our clients value the option to transmit real-time payments, and the API integration we have implemented with Kyriba enables these payments to be processed and confirmed within seconds," said Sairam Rangachari, global head of open banking at JPMorgan, said in the statement released on Thursday.

"The speed and frictionless experience that the integration with JPMorgan offers is a breakthrough for our clients," Kyriba said in the statement.

The company, which also has a partnership with BlackRock, also provides working capital services to businesses.

Kyriba clients include major financial institutions like HSBC and major music streaming service Spotify and it has received funding from major funds like Bridgepoint in the past. The company processes more than 83 million payments a month across thouands of clients.

The company says that publicly traded North American companies reported $20.84 billion in collective currency value losses in the fourth quarter of 2018, the highest level since 2015. This emphasises the need for better risk management and hedging, according to the most recent Kyriba currency impact report.

In March, the company sold a majority stake to London-based hedge fund Bridgepoint in a $160 million deal which gave Kyriba its current $1.2 billion valuation.