Currency Exchange Fee Calculator

Currency

How much you are buying

Market rate

Rate you are offered

Commission, %

Fixed fee

Result

You pay in total

$93,000.00

Cost above the market rate

$3,000.00

Of that, the spread

$3,000.00

Of that, commission

$0.00

Effective rate

Loss share

3.33%

This result is informational only and is not professional advice.

The fee you see is rarely the fee you pay

Shows the real cost of a currency exchange: the spread hidden in the rate plus any stated commission, and the effective rate you end up with.

An exchange with 'no commission' is not free. The charge sits in the rate: the bureau quotes a number worse than the market one and keeps the difference, which is called the spread.

The only figure that matters is the effective rate — everything you handed over divided by everything you received. This tool puts the spread and the stated commission side by side so the whole cost is visible at once.

What this calculator shows

The total paid and how much of it is cost
The split between the spread and the stated commission
The effective rate and the loss as a share of the amount

What to keep in mind

The market rate is the mid-market one — the midpoint between buying and selling, which is what a rate aggregator shows.
The commission is charged on the transaction value. A commission on the received amount gives a slightly different figure.

FAQs

What is a spread?

The gap between the rate at which a place buys a currency and the rate at which it sells. Half of that gap on each side is the charge for the exchange.

How do I know if a rate is good?

Compare it with the mid-market rate. Within half a percent is good, one to two percent is normal for cash, and anything above three deserves another look.

Why is the rate worse at the airport?

Because nobody there has an alternative. Airport spreads of five to ten percent are routine, and they are still called commission free.

Is a card better than cash?

Usually. Card networks convert near the mid-market rate, and the bank's markup is typically smaller than a cash spread — as long as you decline the terminal's offer to convert for you.

Worked example

A thousand units at a three-point spread

Input: 1,000 units, market rate 90, bureau rate 93, no commission

Output: 3,000 of cost, an effective rate of 93

Note: The bureau calls this a commission-free exchange. It is 3.3 percent of the amount — more than most banks charge openly.

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Currency Exchange Fee Calculator

Result

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