Currency Converter
Convert between about 30 major currencies at the latest European Central Bank reference rates, or at a rate you enter yourself.
Loading European Central Bank reference rates...
Reference rates are mid-market figures for information. Banks, card networks and exchange bureaus add a margin, so the amount you actually receive will usually be lower.
Updated Formula covered by automated tests
This converter uses the euro foreign exchange reference rates published by the European Central Bank, loaded when you open the page and shown with the date they were published. They cover about 30 major currencies, including the US, Canadian and Australian dollars, the pound, the yen, the Swiss franc, the yuan and the rupee. If the live rates cannot be reached, the tool does not fall back to old numbers; it asks you to enter the rate yourself.
Reference rates are mid-market figures, halfway between what banks pay to buy and sell a currency. They are the right benchmark for checking an invoice, a salary offer abroad or a quote from a money transfer service, because the gap between the reference rate and the rate you are offered is the hidden cost of the exchange. You can also type the exact rate your bank or card provider quoted, and the tool will use it instead.
The formula
- Amount
- The sum you are converting, in the currency you start with
- rate(base → X)
- Units of currency X per one unit of the base currency, as published in the reference table
- rate(from → to)
- Units of the target currency that one unit of the starting currency buys
The ECB publishes every rate against the euro once per business day, around 16:00 Central European Time. To convert between two currencies that are not the euro, such as Canadian dollars to pounds, a cross rate is formed by dividing one published rate by the other, which is the same as converting through the euro or through the US dollar in a single step.
The rates are a snapshot, not a live market feed. Weekends and TARGET holidays have no new publication, so on a Monday morning you will still see Friday’s date. For a currency outside the reference list, or for an exact transaction rate, enter the rate manually.
Worked example
Daniel runs a small business in Toronto and has to pay a supplier invoice of €2,500. On the day he checks, the reference table gives 0.88865 euros and 1.4161 Canadian dollars per US dollar. His credit card adds a 2.5% foreign transaction fee.
- 1 Cross rate euro to Canadian dollar: 1.4161 ÷ 0.88865 = 1.59354.
- 2 Converted invoice at the reference rate: 2,500 × 1.59354 = C$3,983.85.
- 3 Card fee: 3,983.85 × 0.025 = C$99.60.
- 4 Expected card charge: 3,983.85 + 99.60 = C$4,083.45.
Result: At the reference rate the invoice is worth about C$3,984. Paying by card would cost roughly C$4,083, so a transfer service charging less than C$100 in total would be the cheaper route.
Before you rely on the result
- Reference rates are for information only. They are not the rate any bank, card network or transfer service will give you.
- Rates are updated once per business day, so they can be a day or more old and do not show moves during the trading day.
- If the rate service cannot be reached the tool shows no automatic result until you enter a rate, by design.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the rate at the airport so different from this one?
Exchange bureaus and many banks quote a buy and a sell price with a spread of several percent on either side of the mid-market rate, and some add a fixed commission. The reference rate shown here has no spread at all, so it is a benchmark rather than a price you can trade at.
Should I let a foreign card terminal charge me in my home currency?
Usually not. That option, called dynamic currency conversion, lets the merchant’s provider choose the exchange rate, and it is often worse than your card network’s rate. Paying in the local currency and letting your own card convert it is typically cheaper; compare the offered rate with the one here if you are unsure.
Why does the date shown lag behind today?
The ECB publishes once each working day and not at weekends or on TARGET holidays. Before about 16:00 CET the previous day’s figures are the most recent available.
Can I convert currencies that are not on the list?
The ECB covers only around 30 currencies. For anything else, look up the rate from your bank or a central bank and type it into the rate field; the conversion uses whatever rate you enter.
Sources
- European Central Bank: Euro foreign exchange reference rates (ecb.europa.eu)
- Frankfurter: open-source API for ECB reference rates (frankfurter.dev)