Aaron Karczmer serves as PayPal’s Executive Vice President, Risk and Platforms. In this role, Aaron oversees a diverse set of areas, including control functions, front-line risk and operations teams, and platform services. Control functions include entity management and corporate-wide risk and regulatory oversight teams. Front-line risk teams have direct responsibility for managing fraud, brand, and seller risk, as well as for fulfilling PayPal’s commitment to combat money laundering, terrorism financing, and human trafficking. Platform services is dedicated to providing a full spectrum of tools and capabilities that are optimized for internal and external customers (e.g., risk and identity capabilities). Aaron brings more than 20 years of risk management, law enforcement, legal, and compliance experience – with an ongoing focus on leveraging multi-sector partnerships, data, and technology – to his role with PayPal.
Prior to joining the company in 2016, he spent nearly a decade at American Express serving in a variety of compliance leadership roles. In his tenure at American Express, Aaron founded and led the Financial Intelligence Unit and managed complex regulatory orders, and led the design and implementation of policy and methodology frameworks, new technologies, and organizational structures. Earlier in his career, Aaron held a number of roles at the New York County District Attorney’s office, including Unit Chief and co-founder of the Identity Theft Unit, responsible for investigating and prosecuting financial crime, data breaches, and cyber-crime. He was also a member of the Firearms Trafficking Unit, leading long-term informant and undercover-based investigations. He also served as a law clerk for the Honorable Samuel Conti, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California. Aaron is a founding member of the World Economic Forum’s Chief Risk Officers Community which works to advance the global transformation on how private and public institutions approach risk foresight, preparedness and adaptation.
Aaron earned a JD from Stanford Law School and received his Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York.