"This partnership will allow Paypal to leverage BGU’s top-notch researchers and years of groundbreaking research," says Matan Parnes, Paypal's general manager in Israel. "The collaboration with BGU will further strengthen Paypal’s global leadership in the use of machine learning and big data for cyber security, fraud detection and risk management, allowing us to continue to offer the most cutting-edge technologies that enable safe payments to more than 192 million customers worldwide."

Prof. Dan Blumberg, BGU vice president and dean for research and development adds, "We are eager to extend our relationship with Paypal and help them safeguard the privacy of their hundreds of millions of clients. BGU is a recognised global leader in cyber security, big data and machine learning research and we look forward to putting that expertise to work to meet the unique challenges posed by Paypal’s needs.”

Paypal’s involvement in Israel started with the acquisition of Israel- and Palo Alto-based company Fraud Sciences in 2008, and the establishment of a global risk and data sciences R&D centre in Tel Aviv. Over the last eight years, this centre has delivered cutting-edge technologies in the fields of fraud detection, data sciences and big data. Paypal’s acquisition of Cyactive in 2015, which blossomed at JVP and BGU’s incubator, was another major step in this journey, resulting in the establishment of a global security products center in Beer-Sheva's Advanced Technologies Park, adjacent to BGU.

"Beer-Sheva has become a global cyber security hub in recent years, attracting major multi-national corporations," says Netta Cohen, chief executive officer of BGN Technologies Ltd., the technology transfer company of BGU. "Paypal’s presence here allows it to tap into this eco-system’s cutting-edge technology and top talent."

The new agreement further strengthens and extends the ongoing relationship between Paypal and BGU who already cooperate in training, talent development and recruitment.

BGU is at the centre of Beer-Sheva's transformation into the country's cyber capital, where leading multinational corporations leverage BGU’s expertise to generate innovative R&D. A third of Israel’s engineers graduate from BGU, with that number destined to rise as the IDF moves south and sends its brightest to join the ranks of BGU’s student body. To accommodate that growth, BGU has launched an ambitious campaign to double the size of its main campus.