🧭 RUMBO — ISSUE #008

¡Feliz Navidad y saludos! Happy Tuesday, and welcome to Rumbo, edition 008.

This week, as families across the U.S. send money home for Christmas celebrations, pasteles, tamales, regalos, and holiday expenses, it feels right to share Isaac Torres's story.

In 1995, Isaac came to northern Indiana with a simple plan: learn English, get his MBA, and return to Mexico to work for a multinational corporation.

Then he tried to send flowers to his mother.

The exchange rate was terrible. When he double-checked with the clerk, they confirmed: yes, that's the rate. Torres, an accountant who had worked in international finance, knew he was being ripped off. But he had no choice. He sent the money anyway.

That frustration, that feeling of being taken advantage of while trying to care for family, became an MBA class project at Indiana University. The class project became InterCambio Express, a money transfer service built by Latinos, for Latinos.

Today, InterCambio moves $7 billion annually to Latin America through 1,500+ locations across 30 states. During this holiday season, thousands of families will use InterCambio to send love, support, and Christmas joy across borders at fair rates.

Because sometimes the best businesses come from fixing problems you've personally experienced.

So grab your cafecito (or coquito, if you're feeling festive) and dive in. If you enjoy today's edition, please forward it to your gente or share it online. ☕🎄

Isaac Torres grew up in Mexico City watching his father, a former truck driver, gradually build his own fleet of taxis. "He was my role model," Torres says. "I admired him when he was giving orders and making things happen, and I wanted to be a businessman just like him."

After earning his accounting degree from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in 1990, Torres worked as a senior auditor at PricewaterhouseCoopers, then at German transnational Hoechst AG (now Sanofi).

"I was responsible for paying all the imports made from Canada, Europe, and the United States," Torres recalls. "Being exposed to international markets allowed me to become familiar with different currencies and their financial products like futures, forwards, and hedging."

But Torres wanted more. In 1995, he moved to the United States to attend Indiana University South Bend for his MBA. He deliberately chose northern Indiana, where the Latino population was minimal, to guarantee his immersion in English and American business culture.

Like many Latino immigrants, Torres regularly sent money back to Mexico to support his family. One day, he needed to send money to his sister so she could buy flowers for their mother.

When he saw the exchange rate, he was shocked.

"Much to my surprise, I realized I was getting a horrible exchange rate," Torres says. "I even double-checked with the person at the counter to make sure the rate was correct. The answer was 'yes,' but I had no choice than to proceed with the transaction."

Left frustrated, Torres called his former employer to check what the actual exchange rate was between the Mexican peso and U.S. dollar. The difference was significant. He was being charged far more than the market rate.

Torres started thinking like an entrepreneur. There had to be a better way.

When Torres's marketing management professor challenged students to create a winning business plan, Torres knew exactly what to write about: an internet-based money transfer service that would give fair exchange rates to the Hispanic community.

The idea was simple but powerful. Wire transfer companies were charging exorbitant fees and terrible exchange rates to people sending money home to Latin America, people who couldn't afford it, people who had no other options.

Torres's business plan won the class competition. But unlike most student projects that stay on paper, Torres decided to make it real.

In 1999, while still finishing his MBA, Isaac Torres founded InterCambio Express in Elkhart, Indiana. The mission: provide Latinos living in the U.S. the ability to send money internationally quickly, reliably, and at the best rates.

"We are the company that unites family," Torres says. "We want people to spend good times with their relatives instead of being worried about the money that they sent, why it hasn't arrived or why it costs so much to send it."

Starting a financial services company as a Mexican immigrant in northern Indiana wasn't easy. Torres had to navigate complex regulatory requirements, build trust in a skeptical market, and convince supermarket chains to partner with him for in-store locations.

But Torres had advantages others didn't. He understood the customer intimately because he was the customer. He knew the pain points. He knew what mattered: speed, reliability, and fair rates.

"In the first couple of years it grew in the triple digits," Torres says. "In the last ten years it has been growing in the double digits, even through the recession."

What started with thousands of dollars in transfers grew to millions, then billions.

Torres expanded beyond money transfers, adding personal loans, car title loans, domestic and international bill payments, phone top-ups, and tax preparation. "Our goal is to become a one-stop shop Latino financial services provider," he says.

When mobile became essential, InterCambio adapted, launching an app to make services accessible anywhere.

Today, InterCambio Express:

Torres himself has been named to IBJ Media's Indiana 250 Most Influential Business Leaders for four consecutive years and received Indiana University's Distinguished Alumni Service Award in 2014.

Recently, Torres faced his biggest challenge yet: expanding into California, where 33% of all U.S.-to-Mexico money transfers originate.

InterCambio's model was working so well that competitors started paying millions of dollars to keep the company out of California. "I know InterCambio Express made it to the big leagues because competitors are paying millions of dollars to try keeping his business out of California," Torres says.

Successful presentations and partnership pitches suddenly ran cold. The opposition was fierce.

But Torres isn't backing down. The Latino community in California deserves the same fair rates and reliable service that InterCambio provides everywhere else.

Looking back, Torres credits the United States for making InterCambio Express possible.

"Starting a business is far easier in America than in Mexico," Torres says, "because there's less red tape in the United States and more assistance."

Organizations like the Small Business Administration helped him secure critical first loans. "Being an immigrant makes you a little more appreciative of the resources that are available in this country," he says. "You say, 'Wow, there's opportunity here,' and that energizes you and energizes the people around you."

Torres's advice to aspiring Latino entrepreneurs is straightforward:

"¡Échale muchas ganas! Never give up! Remember, every setback is an opportunity for growth and learning. Stay adaptable and embrace the journey, knowing that overcoming obstacles builds character and strengthens your entrepreneurial spirit."

He emphasizes three key strategies:

1. Seek guidance from experienced entrepreneurs. Surround yourself with mentors and a team who can help you navigate challenges.

2. Network relentlessly. Attend industry events and use platforms like LinkedIn to build relationships.

3. Understand customer needs. The best businesses solve real problems for real people.

Torres sees InterCambio's growth as proof of Latino immigrants' growing economic power in the United States.

"Manufacturing companies in northern Indiana are growing and growing, thanks to their Latino workers," Torres says. "Without them, the recovery after the recession would have been very difficult."

Unlike states like Illinois or California, Indiana's Latino population is relatively new, maybe only a generation or two old. Latinos account for only 6% of Indiana's population, but that number is growing rapidly.

Torres is doing his best to give voice to the Latinos of his state. He serves on bank boards, university boards, and community organizations, working to create more Latino success stories and more Latino entrepreneurs.

"I want to promote the idea that Latinos can be more than just participants in the labor sector," Torres says. "They can create the job opportunities for others."

InterCambio Express continues expanding its services and geographic reach. The California fight isn't over. Torres believes the best way to win is to keep serving customers better than anyone else.

Beyond business growth, Torres is focused on mentorship and community building. He wants to help more Latino entrepreneurs navigate the path he walked: from immigrant student to successful business owner.

His father's lesson, the one that shaped everything, still drives him: the joy of being your own boss, of building something meaningful, of creating opportunities for others.

"My father was always happy being his own boss," Torres recalls. "I wanted to be a businessman just like him."

Mission accomplished.

Connect with Isaac Torres:
📸 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/isaac-torres-1439666
🌐 Website: intercambioexpress.com
📱 Instagram: @intercambioexpress

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