UATP Resources

Teresa Rivera joined UATP in December 2023 as the Vice President, Merchant Solutions.  Teresa is responsible for managing UATP One Merchant Services – helping global enterprises reduce cost, complexity, and risk across their payment ecosystems, while simultaneously enhancing compliance, security, revenue and profitability.

Teresa comes to UATP with 30 years’ experience at Accelya Group, a global software provider for the airline industry. Her extensive payments and airline industry tenure comes with deep expertise in card services, implementation management, and payments and revenue integrity solutions.

She holds an executive MBA and a degree in Computer Science Engineering. She complemented her education with ICF Coach training and NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) to Master Practitioner level.

Ralph Kaiser is president, CEO and chairman of UATP. Appointed in 2003, he has launched and led several important growth initiatives that have more than doubled network charge volume to more than US$18 billion. Among these achievements is UATP’s products, which has lowered the barrier to entry for UATP’s Issuers and provided state-of-the-art data management tools to UATP corporate customers. UATP also launched an innovative Alternative Form of Payment gateway under Kaiser’s leadership.

Previous to his appointment as CEO, Kaiser was UATP’s general counsel. Before joining UATP, Kaiser worked at the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) and the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (Ex-Im Bank) as an advisor to the senior management and the board of directors for both organizations. He holds an MBA from the Carey School of Business at Johns Hopkins University and a law degree (JD) from the Emory University School of Law.

As CTO, Ziegler works to ensure outstanding global operational support of issuers, merchants and other partners. He also administers UATP’s Data Security Policy. Ziegler holds a BA degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and an MBA from the College of William and Mary.

Marrone earned his Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Accounting from Loyola University in Maryland. He is a CPA and has an MBA from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C.

Before joining UATP, Goldwin held several counsel positions at TSYS Acquiring Solutions, LLC, most recently serving as vice president of legal. Prior to that, he held both legal and operational positions with Global Collect, First Data, and MedE America. Goldwin earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Syracuse University, his Juris Doctor from IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, and is licensed to practice law in Illinois and New York.

Ward brings more than 25 years of global experience in marketing and communications experience to UATP. She holds an MBA in International Business, Finance & Accounting and a BA in International Affairs.

Zach Ornelas joined UATP in January of 2019 and currently serves as senior vice president, commercial. Ornelas leads the global network sales team in the promotion and expansion of its charge card network. He and his team are responsible for all existing and new merchant relationships.

Prior to this position, Ornelas was director of global sales at MSTS, a third-party partner to UATP. Ornelas and his team at MSTS developed and sold closed-loop payment networks across industries and the globe. Ornelas led the MSTS team to acquire the IATA EasyPay agreement supporting prepaid payments in over 27 countries. Before joining MSTS, Ornelas spent the previous decade working at American Express, supporting their Global Corporate Payments division in technology consulting and sales roles across the United States.

Ornelas holds a BA in Business Communication from Rockhurst University. He and his four children reside in the Kansas City metro and all support the Chiefs—even when times are bad.

Gary Zannotti joined UATP in 2000 and currently serves as vice president, operations and services. In this position, Zannotti is responsible for UATP’s Issuer Service Center and managing the DataStream platform.

Zannotti began his career as the senior financial analyst for American Airlines, where he was later promoted to marketing development manager. Zannotti obtained his MBA and undergraduate degree in Business Administration at Oklahoma State University.

Angie Meaux joined UATP in 2015 and currently serves as the Vice President, Human Resources & Administration. Angie is responsible for setting, enforcing, and evaluating legally compliant human resources policies, procedures, and best practices, and identifying and implementing long-range strategic talent management goals.  She also develops and implements administrative policies, procedures, and strategies to ensure efficient operations that support the company’s overall goals and objectives.

Angie earned a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Human Resources Management from East Carolina University, and an MBA from Norwich University.