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Currency Converter

Live mid-market rates — and a straight answer about why that is not the rate you will be given.

The rate is the fee

Currency conversion is rarely sold with a price tag on it. The mid-market rate is the honest midpoint; what you are offered is that rate moved in the provider's favour, and the size of that move is the entire cost.

What 1,000 units of currency becomes at three different rates At the mid-market rate you would receive 1,000. A typical bank or card returns about 970, and an airport bureau about 890. Where you change it What you actually receive on 1,000 Mid-market rate1,000What you see on Google or XETypical bank or card970Mid-market minus roughly 3%Airport bureau890Often 10% or worse, before any fee Illustrative margins. The rate you are quoted is the fee — a "no commission" sign says nothing about it.
Illustrative, not quoted rates. The point is the shape: the difference between a good provider and an airport counter is usually far larger than any fee either of them charges.

The one decision worth getting right

Most of what you can control about conversion costs comes down to a single prompt on a card machine abroad, and the cheaper answer is the one that looks less helpful.

The two options a foreign card machine offers, and what each one costs On a 100 euro bill, letting your own bank convert costs about 86 pounds 40. Accepting the terminal's offer to charge you in pounds costs about 89 pounds 40 for the same meal. A €100 dinner in Rome on a UK card — what leaves your account “CHARGE ME IN EUR”£86.40€100, converted by your own bankTake this one “CHARGE ME IN GBP”£89.40€100, converted by the terminal£3.00 more, for nothing The screen offering your own currency is the expensive button. Illustrative, at a mid-market rate of 0.864 and a typical 3.5% dynamic-currency-conversion margin.
This is dynamic currency conversion. Declining it costs nothing and is almost always cheaper — your own card issuer converts at a rate much closer to the mid-market one.

Questions

Why is the rate I get worse than the one I look up?

The rate you look up is the mid-market rate — the midpoint between what banks buy and sell at, and not a rate consumers are normally offered. Providers add a margin to it, and that margin is the real cost of the transaction. A service advertising 'no commission' can still be expensive, because the money is made on the spread rather than a visible fee.

Should I pay in my own currency when a card machine offers?

No. That offer is dynamic currency conversion, and it lets the merchant's provider set the exchange rate, typically adding several percent. Always choose to be charged in the local currency and let your own card issuer convert.

How current are these rates?

They come from a public exchange-rate feed and are indicative mid-market rates, updated periodically rather than streaming live. They are suitable for working out roughly what something costs, not for trading or for reconciling an exact statement figure.

References

  1. European Central Bank — euro foreign exchange reference rates
  2. UK FCA — guidance on dynamic currency conversion
  3. Bank for International Settlements — FX market structure

Reviewed September 2026.