Currency Converter
Quick conversions between major world currencies, using the European Central Bank's daily reference rates - fetched live each time you open the page.
Built and maintained by Jefferson Almeida · Last updated
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Reference rate table (per 1 USD)
Showing saved rates.
| Currency | Code | Rate per $1 USD |
|---|
What exchange rate you're actually getting
The rate you see quoted on financial sites is the mid-market rate - the midpoint between what buyers and sellers are offering on the interbank market. It's the "real" rate, and it's almost never the rate a consumer receives.
What you actually pay includes a spread - a markup on the mid-market rate - plus any explicit fees. The spread is where most of the cost hides, because it doesn't appear as a line item.
Typical total costs:
| Method | Typical cost above mid-market |
|---|---|
| Airport currency kiosk | 7–15% |
| Bank cash exchange | 3–7% |
| Credit card (no FX fee) | 0–1% |
| Credit card (with FX fee) | 3% |
| ATM abroad (own bank network) | 1–3% + fixed fee |
| Specialist transfer services | 0.3–1.5% |
Dynamic currency conversion - decline it
When a foreign terminal asks whether you'd like to be charged in your home currency, the correct answer is no.
Saying yes hands the conversion to the merchant's payment processor, which typically applies a 3–7% markup. Saying no lets your card network handle it at close to mid-market. Always choose to be billed in the local currency.
The offer is framed as a convenience. It is a fee.
Practical guidance for travel
- Use a credit card with no foreign transaction fee. This single choice usually saves more than every other tactic combined.
- Withdraw larger amounts less often where ATM fees are fixed per transaction.
- Never exchange cash at the airport unless you need a small amount immediately.
- Check local tipping norms before you travel. US-style percentages don't apply in most of the world; the tip calculator has the customary ranges.
- Decline the ATM's own conversion offer for the same reason as above.
- For large transfers, compare specialist services against your bank - on a $10,000 transfer the difference is frequently $300–500.
Why rates move
Exchange rates float based on interest rate differentials, inflation, trade balances, political stability, and speculation. Central bank policy is the dominant short-term driver - when one country raises rates relative to another, capital flows toward the higher yield and its currency typically strengthens.
Rates on this converter are central-bank reference rates, refreshed from the ECB each time the page loads. They are not live trading rates, and the rate you receive from any provider will differ once its spread and fees are applied.
FAQ
How current are these rates?
They are the European Central Bank's official daily reference fixing, fetched fresh each time you load this page - so they are current as of the most recent ECB publication. The ECB sets them once per business day at around 16:00 CET, which means they do not move intraday and do not update at all on weekends or ECB holidays. That is fine for working out roughly what something costs. For money you are about to actually exchange, confirm the dealing rate with your bank or a service like XE.com, because that will include a spread this page does not show.
Why did my bank give me a worse rate than shown here?
Banks and money transfer services typically add a margin on top of the market "mid" exchange rate, plus sometimes a flat fee - that's how they make money on the conversion. The rate here is the reference market rate, not a rate any specific provider is offering you.
Should I buy currency before traveling?
Generally no, beyond a small amount for immediate arrival costs. Home-country exchanges usually carry worse rates than an ATM at your destination.
Are traveler's checks still useful?
Rarely. Acceptance has collapsed and fees are high. A no-FX-fee card plus a backup card is the modern equivalent.
💡 Did you know?
People have been exchanging currency for roughly 2,500 years, with ancient Greek and Egyptian traders weighing gold and silver to settle deals before standardized coins existed. Organized currency exchange markets emerged in Europe by the 1600s, but the floating exchange rates you see in today's converters - rates that move freely with the market instead of being pegged to gold or another currency - only became the norm in 1973, after the Bretton Woods system collapsed.