JPMorgan Backs Tilia to Advance Payments for Virtual Economies

Comprehensive payments platform Tilia was backed by J.P. Morgan for an unspecified amount to further develop its payment processing solutions for in-game transactions and virtual economies.

Tilia converts in-world tokens to fiat currency including USD — the foundation of any virtual economy — for in-game transactions and payouts to creators, according to a press release on Tuesday (Oct. 18).

Developed for gaming, virtual world and mobile application developers, Tilia’s solution enables profitable in-world economies that help users to buy and sell virtual goods and services that facilitate play-to-earn programs.

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“We believe that contextualized commerce — such as virtual economies within games and virtual worlds — is an area perfectly positioned for innovative payments solutions to play a critical role in the coming years,” said Drew Soinski, senior payments executive, managing director, J.P. Morgan Payments.

He added that as a market leader in developing software for gaming payments, Tilia is the right company to back to build the solutions that will drive “these new and exciting marketplaces.”

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Built from scratch to power the online multimedia gaming platform Second Life and its creator-based economy, Tilia’s capabilities were developed over several years.

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“Virtual economies represent a huge financial opportunity, particularly for game, app and virtual world developers,” said Brad Oberwager, executive chairman of Tilia.

“J.P. Morgan Payments, a worldwide leader and recognized innovator in payments, is the right partner as we continue to expand capabilities in line with these rapidly growing creator-based economies,” he added.

Tilia has secured U.S. money transmitter licenses to support payouts, allowing for secure transactions on a large scale, according to the press release.

In addition to the investment, Tilia is also working with J.P. Morgan Payments to enhance its current capabilities throughout its processing platform.