Currency Converter

How currency conversion works

An exchange rate is the price at which one currency can be traded for another. When you see "1 USD = 0.92 EUR", it means one US Dollar buys 0.92 Euros at that moment. The converter on this page uses the mid-market rate — the midpoint between the buy and sell prices on the global currency markets — sourced daily from the European Central Bank (ECB) reference rates. This is the same number you see on Reuters or Bloomberg before any commercial markup.

Currencies fluctuate constantly because supply and demand for each currency moves with the underlying economy. Interest-rate decisions by central banks (the Federal Reserve, ECB, Bank of Japan, Bank of England), inflation reports, trade balances, energy prices, and geopolitical events all push rates up or down. Major pairs like EUR/USD or USD/JPY can move 0.5–1% on a typical day; smaller emerging-market currencies like the Turkish Lira or Argentine Peso sometimes move several percent in a single session.

It is important to understand the difference between the interbank rate we display here and the retail rate your bank or money-changer offers you. Banks and exchange bureaus typically add a 2 to 4 percent margin on top of the interbank rate to cover their costs and profit. Cards add foreign-transaction fees. Travel-money kiosks at airports often charge 5–10% above market. Knowing the live mid-market rate gives you a fair benchmark to spot when you are being overcharged — and to negotiate or switch providers when you are.

Currency conversion tips

• Why mid-market rates matter: they are the unbiased reference. If your bank quotes you a rate more than ~3% off mid-market, you're paying for convenience — sometimes a lot.
• When to convert (timing tips, not financial advice): for one-off travel transfers, day-to-day fluctuations rarely move enough to justify waiting. For larger amounts (relocating funds abroad, paying tuition), it can be worth tracking the pair for a few days and choosing a calmer moment.
• Best practices for travelers: use a card with no foreign-transaction fees, pay in the local currency at the terminal (never accept "pay in your home currency" — it almost always costs you 5–8%), and keep a small cash reserve for places that don't accept cards.
• Tracking multiple currencies if you're a freelancer: if you invoice in EUR, get paid in USD, and live in MAD, your effective income changes with every conversion. Keep separate budget categories per currency and re-evaluate quarterly. Good apps log the rate at the moment of each transaction.
• Why Fince auto-detects your local currency: tracking expenses across borders is fiddly when every receipt forces you to convert. Fince reads your iPhone locale, formats amounts in your local currency by default, and lets you log foreign transactions without losing the original value.

Tracking expenses across currencies? Try Fince — your local currency auto-detected, all transactions in one place, and an AI assistant that can compare your spending across months in either currency.