ORLANDO, Fla. – February enrollments in US Equity Advantage’s (USEA) biweekly F&I service set a single-month record for the 17-year-old company following its expansion to all 50 states. In anticipation, USEA had expanded its dealer services team and beefed up its operational and customer service departments, resulting in a 37% increase in staff size over the previous year. Then, COVID-19 hit.

We are committed to supporting our dealership and agent partners through this pandemic and any other challenges the future may hold.

Despite the pandemic’s economic impact, USEA remains financially sound and fully staffed to support its expanded family of dealership partners and their customers who are enrolled in AutoPayPlus. The decision also reflects USEA’s belief that pent-up demand will produce strong vehicle sales for dealerships once the stringent restrictions are lifted and people return to work and their normal routines. 

“US Equity Advantage is running on all cylinders to provide uninterrupted and responsive service while maintaining safeguards to mitigate the spread of the virus and protect the health of our team members. Our call center is operating at normal service levels, and we are continuing to make on-time payments for all of our AutoPayPlus customers as well as onboard new ones,” said Robert Steenbergh, CEO of US Equity Advantage. “We are also continuing to see interest from dealerships nationwide in our F&I service that offers them a solution to extended loan terms and rising interest rates, plus the ability to put customers in a positive equity position sooner for vehicle trade-ins.”

“We are committed to supporting our dealership and agent partners through this pandemic and any other challenges the future may hold,” added Rick Christopher, USEA’s national sales manager. “Our dealer services team plays an important role in that commitment, ensuring that our partners have the knowledge and tools they need to maximize the value of AutoPayPlus in a competitive automotive retail environment like no other.”

USEA has added the following managers to its dealer services team:

• Cesar Berlanga is a dealer relations manager for USEA’s West Region, encompassing 21 states. Based in Laredo, Texas, Berlanga has over six years of management experience in the automotive industry ranging from finance manager to general sales manager. Fluent in several languages, he is the first multilingual DRM in the company.

• Alex Mills is a dealer relations manager for USEA’s Midwest Region, encompassing 13 states.Based in Orlando, Mills has seven years of automotive experience as a top sales executive. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in General Business Management from the University of Central Florida.

• Matthew Lane is a regional sales manager for USEA’s West Region, encompassing 21 states.Based in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, Lane has three decades of experience in automotive finance, ranging from captives to credit unions. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

• In addition, Joe Madrid has joined USEA’s sales support team as a coordinator. With two decades of family history in the automotive industry and seven years’ experience in the fiber optics sector, Madrid brings strong analytical skills, critical thinking and adaptability to the team.

AutoPayPlus is an accelerated loan payment F&I service that allows dealers to help car buyers better afford their loan payment, purchase additional F&I products, trade out earlier and return to the dealer in a positive equity position.