Laybuy hires London-based chief risk officer from HSBC

New Zealand-based buy now, pay later provider Laybuy has quietly made a key addition to its senior leadership team here in London.

Jamie Byles, the former group head of fraud in the wealth and personal banking division of HSBC, joined Laybuy as its new chief risk officer in April.

The newly created position will see Byles take responsibility for Laybuy’s risk management strategy and ensuring the lender is using the best tools to prevent fraud and minimise its credit risk.

“Globally, there has been an increase in fraudulent activity involving companies in e-commerce and this is impacting those providing online payment services, including the BNPL sector,” said Laybuy’s co-founder and managing director Gary Rohloff.

“At Laybuy, we are taking the growing threat of attempted fraud seriously and are committed to doing all that we can to proactively reduce the incidences of fraud, minimise its impact and continuously improve the security of our payment platform. Jamie will play a critical role in helping us achieve this.”

Prior to HSBC Byles worked as a risk director at Bayclays and before that as head of fraud strategy at payments giant Visa.

Since starting work at Laybuy in April, the company says the chief risk officer has already driven a “marked reduction in fraudulent activity” for the lender.