Mr. Bates has extensive experience in the financial services/payments industry and has been involved in both public and private companies, ranging in size from start-up to $4 billion in revenue. Mr. Bates' expertise lies in financial and other administrative responsibilities in both public and private company environments, including multi-site national and international companies. His leadership and experience provides valuable support to the overall growth strategy of the company.
In 2010, as part of the Sr. Management Team led by Mario Trujillo and continuing the 2007 strategy of becoming one of the largest and the best electronic funds transfer companies; Mr. Bates participated in the search, planning, fundraising and execution of forming Money Transfer Acquisition Inc. (MTAI), and successfully completed the acquisition of DolEx Dollar Express, Inc. ("DolEx®") and United Europhil ("Europhil") IN May of 2010. Both DolEx and Europhil are leading money transfer companies operating in the US and Spain markets, primarily serving the Mexico and Latin America corridors. This acquisition was carried out in partnership with Institutional Private Equity Investors, led by Palladium Equity Partners, Prudential, Adams Street Capital and Parish Capital. Upon completion of the acquisition, Mr. Bates became MTAI's and DolEx's Chief Financial Officer, responsible for the Finance, Accounting Treasury, Human Resources and Legal functions of the company. Mr. Bates also joined the board of directors for both MTAI and DolEx.
In October 2010, DolEx acquired the assets of Latinvest Investment Company II, LLC (including Remesas Quisqueyana Inc. and Affiliates, "RQI®") and Mr. Bates became MTAI's CFO. Mr. Bates also continues in his current role of CFO of RQI following the proposed asset sale to DolEx, during all transition periods consistent with all regulatory requirements.
Mr. Bates joined RQI in April, 2008 as the Vice President of Finance and was promoted to Chief Financial Officer in 2009. In this role, Mr. Bates was responsible for the Accounting, Treasury and Human Resources functions of the company.
Prior to joining RQI, Mr. Bates was Vice President - Assistant Controller with LandAmerica Financial Group (LFG), Inc., a $4.0 billion revenue company based in Richmond, VA providing real estate services to various lenders and consumers. During his tenure at LFG, Mr. Bates also served as Chief Financial Officer of the Lender Services Division ($300M revenue) and Chief Financial Officer of LandAmerica Credit Services ($60M). In these positions, Mr. Bates directed the efforts to identify, measure and implement annualized expense reductions of $15M, and improve operating margins by 25% in selected companies. Mr. Bates' efforts were also focused on implementing analytical and operational metrics throughout the various divisions to convey key information in real-time to support business decisions.
As Chief Financial Officer – VP of Finance and Administration of INFO 1, Inc., a credit reporting company serving the mortgage industry Mr. Bates, along with the CEO, spent 18 months facilitating the sale of INFO 1, Inc. to LandAmerica by developing financial resources and necessary internal controls and policies and procedures in order to generate a liquidity event for shareholders. The successful acquisition by LandAmerica Financial Group was completed in August 2003.
Mr. Bates has also served in various executive/management roles in public and private companies including Paceon Corporation, The Intercept Group, Convergent Media Systems, Hayes Microcomputer Products and Avon Products, Inc.
Mr. Bates holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from Georgia State University. He is a certified public accountant in the state of Georgia.
Connecting families so they stay connected