Optimized Payments Hires New Chief Data Scientist

ATLANTA, July 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Optimized Payments, a leading payments consulting and analytics firm, has hired Fei Hou as its first chief data scientist. The new role represents the company's commitment to extracting more relevant and timely insights from data so clients can make informed decisions.

Hou brings over eight years of progressive engineering experience to the firm. He's held managerial positions at well-known organizations such as GE Power, and his passion is problem-solving. Hou also has a Master of Engineering degree from Beijing's Tsinghua University and, most recently, received a Master of Science in Business Analytics degree from Emory University.

Technical expertise is Hou's strong suit. He's honed knowledge across coding languages like Python and SQL; algorithms such as linear regression and deep learning; and tools including Tableau, Hadoop, and Spark. Plus, his international background will benefit the firm's global focus, as it aims to add enterprise clients and consume payments data across Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Australia.

Anand Goel, CEO of Optimized Payments, is excited to bring Hou on board. "He will further our goal of growing our payments analytics platform, which delivers insights, savings, and streamlined back-office operations for our clients. Through machine learning and data science, Fei will improve our platform's ability to deliver the timely and relevant insights our clients need to develop informed strategies."

Having built successful machine learning and other algorithmic models, Hou's experience primes him to take full advantage of the hundreds of millions of transactions the firm's analytics solution consumes every day. "This experience will be essential as we evolve from descriptive to prescriptive analytics," Goel explains.

One tangible way the firm plans to employ Hou's expertise is concerning least-cost routing strategies. Currently, it can take one to two days to consume and run simulations on millions of merchant debit transactions to determine the optimal least-cost routing strategy, especially when you must consider various debit network incentives and transaction commitments. With Hou's help, the firm plans to reduce the time required to only a few hours or even minutes. "All of our clients will benefit from this and other improvements we will make with his help," says Goel.

About Optimized Payments
Optimized Payments is a payments consulting and analytics firm dedicated to helping clients reduce their payment processing costs while simplifying the payments function. By leveraging its proprietary software and its consultants' broad industry experience and insights, Optimized Payments helps all types of businesses manage their payment processes and improve their bottom line. Its analytics and consulting services have saved clients over $280 million in card processing costs.

Contact:
Monika Llorens
Phone: +1 (800) 846-1305
Email: [email protected]
Web: https://optimizedpayments.com/

SOURCE Optimized Payments