COLLEYVILLE, Tex. – The Association of Finance & Insurance Professionals (AFIP) announced that Gulf States Financial Services Group’s entire dealer-support cadre completed the AFIP Certified F&I Professional program in 2015. David Robertson, AFIP executive director, conducted a review and proctored the certification exam in the final round of testing at the firm’s Houston home office in December.

According to Robertson, “This group’s 100% first-time pass rate is indicative of the organization’s longstanding commitment to regulatory competence. A large number of the GSFS candidates moved up to Senior and Master Certification status.”

Commenting on the latest round of testing, Steve Amos, GSFSGroup’s president, said, “Nothing speaks more to GSFS’s commitment to our values and concern for the regulatory health of our organization than AFIP certification. We are very proud of our team’s test results and their commitment to excellence.”

AFIP Certification provides F&I professionals with a comprehensive working knowledge of the federal and state laws that govern in-dealership financial services, with an emphasis on best practices and ethical conduct. “The Certified F&I Professional program’s primary objective,” said Robertson, “is to place as many individuals with a working knowledge of state and federal regulations governing the vehicle purchase, funding, leasing, and owner protection processes as close to car-buying consumers as possible.”

The two-tier process calls for the certification of in-dealership financial services officers, backed by regulation-savvy dealership support personnel. In the last 25 years, AFIP has certified more than 50,000 in-store employees, field operatives of captive and institutional lenders and aftermarket product vendors, and independent general agents. “The result has been a dramatic reduction in breaches of consumer trust,” said Robertson.

“GSFS will work to convince dealers to have their F&I personnel certified,” said Amos. “With the CFPB presence today, it makes good sense to know your team has a clear understanding of the right thing to do.”

For the past 33 years, GSFSGroup has provided a contemporary and comprehensive mix of vehicle owner protection products and services, backed by committed customer service, basic and recurrent training, hands-on mentoring and oversight through its direct and general agent distribution channels. Its objective is to enhance the vehicle ownership experiences of car buyers in its core states of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas, and throughout the U.S.