UGA Finance started in St. Joseph Missouri, back in 2001. Our company started out small, with only four people working in the office. This team of four employees was everything in the company; they were the accountants, they were the marketing team, they were sales. The four of them ran the company for the first year, and after that they had grown to 9 employees. After the first year, they decided to bring their collections and billing internally. Over the years, the company has grown to upwards of 100 employees. With the growth of technology, The UGA Finance Program has been able to streamline our processes and produce efficient and secure methods of offering consumer financing options for our clients.
Jeff has more than 30 years of experience in the financial industry. UGA Finance was started nearly 18 years ago, and since, Jeff has been an integral source of knowledge and commitment to the success of the UGA Finance Program.
Prior to the inception of the UGA Finance Program, Jeff started his career in the automotive industry. He successfully owned and operated a car dealership, and was the youngest owner within that franchise. He then started his own independent auto dealership and later sold it, and became a consultant with Travelers Acceptance Corporation. While working with Travelers, he designed a conservative, high-yield, auto finance program which was marketed aggressively by Travelers as it maintained high performance levels. Jeff’s progressive approach to auto finance has expanded into a variety of other industries and has enhanced UGA's niche for high-yielding, sub-prime programs for our clients.
Mr. Daum currently is and has been since the beginning, the President of UGA Finance. As UGA Finance grew, Jeff was able to take his small company of 4 employees and grow it into a successful business of more than 70 employees.
Edward (Ed) Vasques serves as the Chief Operating Officer at UGA Finance. Mr. Vasques has more than 16 years of experience in the financial industry including several years in collections and consumer financing.
With a B.S. in Communications, Edward began his career as an entry-level representative for the nation’s largest third-party collection agency, where he quickly rose to the position of General Collection Manager. Edward then joined one of the nation’s largest debt purchase and servicing companies as Director of Operations. He continued to develop his skills in asset management and personnel development with a staff of over 80 employees. Edward found success building first-party collection programs for industry leaders in advertising, truck driver training and logistics.
Ed was initially brought into UGA Finance to run the collections agency. During that time, he also oversaw the billing department. Over time he began to take responsibility within the credit department and eventually, took over all of operations. Now, Mr. Vasques has now been with UGA Finance for over 12 years and serves as the Vice President of the company and is part owner.
Mark Schmitz is the Chief Financial Officer at UGA Finance. Mr. Schmitz has been in the financial industry for nearly 28 years.
Mark graduated Summa Cum Laude from Washburn University in Topeka, KS with a dual major in Finance and Economics. Mark began his career with a Fortune 500 company as an Accountant at the plant level. He was quickly promoted to an Accounting Manager at the divisional level and then as a Finance Manager where he prepared financial statements and analysis at the corporate level. Mark furthered his experience as an Accounting and Finance Manager in the non-profit sector and as the head of finance, accounting, and IT for a family owned service company. Mark’s well-rounded experience in various industries and with small, large, and non-profit enterprises enables him to tailor our services to fit the needs of our diverse client base.
Mr. Schmitz was brought into UGA Finance as a controller. Since, he has built UGA's entire accounting program and developed all processes that are used to this day. Mark has been with UGA Finance for the past 12 years and is a part owner in the company, alongside Mr. Daum and Mr. Vasques.
Use our platform to Originate Loans or Subscriptions. Checkout customers with a Point of Sale solution that enables Bank ACH or Credit Card transactions in combination with flexible payment plan options to close more deals. Use the same platform for customer service and loan servicing solutions. Your customers also get online access to manage their accounts, eStatements and eAlerts as well. Find out more about our platform here.
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NMLS Information
http://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org/
NMLS Numbers:
UAS – 1060516
Universal Account Servicing, LLC (UAS) is the third-party billing service provider for the UGA Finance Program. We utilize our uPortal360 application to generate and service contracts on behalf of Retail Sellers. Our contact center and support team can make calls and provide other communication touchpoints related to the servicing of a Retail Seller’s contracts.
uPortal360 provides online account management that allows consumers to see monthly statements, make payments, and manage communications. When you accept a contract provided by a Retail Seller you are given access to uPortal360. Also, uPortal360 will be used to send communications about your Account.
The UGA Finance Program is a program name for certain consumer credit contracts extended by participating lenders and/or retail sellers for the purchase of goods and/or services. Participating lenders and retail sellers provide credit without regard to age, race, color, religion, national origin, gender or familial status. The UGA Finance Program and uPortal360 are administered by Universal Account Servicing, LLC that generates and services contracts on behalf of participating lenders and retail sellers. NMLS #1060516