Bankaool hacks into the cream of the Intercam Banco exchange desk.

Bankaool has hired Héctor Andréz Ruíz López as its Executive Director of Currency Exchange. He was previously in charge of the currency exchange desk at Grupo Financiero Intercam , a credit institution specializing in foreign exchange, primarily peso-dollar transactions.

Moisés Cháves, chairman of the board of Bankaool and CEO of OMNi, emphasized in an interview that since the problems at CI Banco, Intercam, and Vector became known, they have approached the intervened institutions.

"We approached Intercam to make an orderly transition, but it wasn't possible, and we managed to hire 280 people out of a total of 750 who worked in Intercam's foreign exchange department," the executive commented.

He explained that Intercam was conducting transactions worth $820 million daily, and with the hiring of the new executives, they are seeking to capture 40% of that trading volume," he added in an interview.

According to reports, Héctor Andrés Ruiz López will be taking over the "cream of the crop" of Intercam Banco 's foreign exchange division.

Ruiz López, with more than 25 years of experience in financial institutions such as Banco Monex and Intercam Banco, will lead the team of promoters who will seek to serve clients under strict standards of control, compliance, security, and supervision of the National Banking and Securities Commission (CNVB).

The president of Bankaool explained that the institution is seeking to expand its business lines—treasury, loans, and payroll—and plans to develop the foreign exchange area in the future.

However, I continue, we approached the intervened banks, showed interest in their operations, and with that, we were able to develop the foreign exchange area.

"We were planning to develop the business line, and with the addition of the new staff, we'll save ourselves three years of learning curve on the subject," explained Moisés Chaves.

Speaking about the negotiations, the executive explained that Intercam's executives were focused on addressing the issue with the authorities and regulators, but business was neglected, and many credit institutions approached the bank with their offers.

"Export-oriented companies couldn't stop their operations while the bank's problem was resolved, so we brought in Héctor, his best employees, and his client base," the executive acknowledged.

He explained that the currency exchange business has a low profit margin, and what they're looking for is to offer cross-services to their new customers and provide them with a full-service banking offering.

In 2023, Grupo OMNi acquired Bankaool's operations based in Chihuahua.