Keith Melton has been named a senior vice president and chief strategy officer in the Retail Payments Office, with responsibility for industry outreach, strategy and enterprise support, announced Dennis Lockhart, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. 

Melton will lead a new function in the RPO dedicated to strategic planning, industry engagement, and integration with enterprise support services. Before joining the Atlanta Fed, he served as the director of banking and payments for IBM, where he led worldwide strategy, product management, and development for the IBM Commerce payments business. Melton also has held various senior executive roles at other organizations in the financial and technology sectors. 

Melton holds a bachelor's degree in management information systems from Auburn University and a master of business administration from Kennesaw State University.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta serves the Sixth Federal Reserve District, which encompasses Alabama, Florida, Georgia and sections of Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee. As part of the nation's central banking system, the Atlanta Fed participates in setting national monetary policy, supervises numerous commercial banks and provides a variety of financial services to depository institutions and the U.S. government.