How a foreign exchange rate is quoted
A rate is quoted for a pair of currencies, with a price to buy and a price to sell. The gap between the two is the spread, and the midpoint is the mid-market rate, the usual benchmark for judging what a conversion cost.
Reference rates are snapshots published for comparison. The European Central Bank publishes euro foreign exchange reference rates, usually at around 16:00 CET on every working day except TARGET closing days, based on a daily exchange between central banks at about 14:10 CET. The ECB publishes them for information purposes only.
The rate a payment customer gets
- Card payment abroad: the card scheme's rate, plus any fee the issuer adds
- Conversion offered at the terminal: a rate set by the merchant's provider
- International transfer: the sending provider's rate when the payment is made
- Multi-currency account: the provider's live rate plus its margin
A product that converts for customers takes its rates from a liquidity provider or a market data feed, adds a margin, and holds each quote for a short time. The longer a quote stays valid, the more market movement the product absorbs.
Where a foreign exchange rate shows up in a platform
Modules that do the work
- FXCurrency conversion with live rates, your margins and the liquidity provider you choose.
- Market dataLive and historical prices for crypto, stocks and FX, from the data vendors you choose.
- LedgerThe double-entry book of record behind every balance, fee and transfer.
Platforms that need it
Where it is written
The laws and standards this page's facts come from.
General information, not legal advice: what applies to you depends on your services and your market.