Capital One Exec Joins Fraud Elimination Leader Vesta as Head of AI and R&D

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore., Feb. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Vesta, a global leader in card-not-present (CNP) fraud prevention and approval enhancement solutions, today announced it has tapped industry veteran Paul Melby to serve as Senior Vice President, Artificial Intelligence and R&D. His duties will include overseeing the company's machine learning and data-science teams focused in Approval and Fraud Operations, as well as building Vesta's new AI Lab, which will accelerate Vesta's next generation of AI-driven fraud detection solutions.

Melby joins Vesta with over 15 years' experience in data science and data engineering, most recently leading Capital One's Fraud Data Science team. Under his leadership, the team launched several innovative data science products, including a machine learning-based transactional fraud model and interactive graph analysis software that's used by hundreds of fraud and anti-money laundering investigators at the company today.

"As the world's only fraud prevention platform using machine learning trained on 25 years of global data, Vesta is uniquely poised to advance machine learning and AI for fraud prevention and more importantly for our customers, maximum approval rates on an international scale. Paul's experience makes him ideal for leading this charge," said Ron Hynes, CEO of Vesta. "With him overseeing our new AI Lab and helping the company continue to advance our machine learning expertise, fraudsters won't stand a chance and our customers will know they are getting the utmost they can from approvals."

Melby's hiring, and the subsequent creation of the Vesta AI Lab, comes at a critical time in AI, machine learning and fraud prevention: fraudsters have increasingly shifted their focus to digital attacks given the rise of e-commerce during the pandemic, whether through card-not-present fraud or account takeovers. Vesta's data science team constantly pushes the boundaries of how machine learning, and AI are used in concert to stay ahead of fraudsters' evolving tactics, allowing customers to scale their businesses with confidence. 

"There is a clear opportunity to provide even better fraud solutions for e-commerce companies so they can continue to capitalize on the massive move to online shopping while keeping fraudsters at bay," said Paul Melby. "Vesta brings a wealth of experience fighting fraud and growing approvals on a global scale and already boasts industry-leading machine learning capabilities. I look forward to leading Vesta as we continue to break new ground in the use of these technologies to support customers and drive the cost of fraud to zero."

In addition to his experience at Capital One, Melby also previously held positions at Palantir Technologies and the MITRE Corporation. He holds a Ph.D. in Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and has published over 25 journal articles and technical reports.

About Vesta

Vesta is an end-to-end card-not-present (CNP) fraud prevention platform trusted by leading brands in telco, e-commerce, travel, banking, and financial services. It uses a graphical approach to machine learning, underpinned by 25 years of transactional data, to help merchants increase approvals of legitimate sales, while eliminating chargebacks and other forms of digital fraud. Vesta drives the true cost of fraud to zero by assuming 100% of the cost of fraud for any transaction it approves, so merchants can scale confidently and conduct cross-border commerce without risk. Vesta is headquartered in Lake Oswego, OR, with additional offices in Atlanta, GA, Ireland, Mexico, and Singapore. For more information visit www.trustvesta.com

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SOURCE Vesta