Fee vs spread X-ray

What is your transfer really costing you?

Providers advertise “no fees” then bake the profit into a worse rate. Enter what you were quoted and we'll X-ray the true cost against the live mid-market rate.

What would you like to calculate?

From To

Exchange money

You send Their rate (1 from = ? to) Their fee (in from)

Compares the provider's rate to the live mid-market rate. Real quotes vary by amount, corridor and timing.

Compare two exchange offers

Read the worked example →

Choose the source and destination currencies above. Enter your own quotes below. No provider ranking or advertised rate is assumed.

Direction and units: USD → AUD

Total source-currency budget

Offer A

A: destination units per 1 source unit A: fixed fee in source currency A: fee as % of source budget

Offer B

B: destination units per 1 source unit B: fixed fee in source currency B: fee as % of source budget

Each result = (budget − fixed fee − budget × percentage fee / 100) × quoted rate. Fees are deducted from the same total budget. Excludes recipient fees and taxes.

Local units per 1 home unit (card rate)

Local units per 1 home unit. Enter your card’s conversion rate.

Card payment: local currency or home currency?

Read the worked example →

Uses the same currency pair above: source = your home currency; destination = the local currency. Enter the card conversion rate that applies to your payment and the final home-currency amount offered by the terminal.

Purchase amount in local currency Card conversion fee (%) Card fixed fee in home currency Terminal DCC total in home currency, including applicable fees

Local-currency payment = local amount ÷ card rate × (1 + card fee / 100) + fixed card fee. A reference rate is only an estimate; settlement rates and issuer rules can differ.

One withdrawal or several?

Read the worked example →

Enter the same total cash amount for both scenarios. Uses the card rate above; the withdrawal percentage fee below replaces the purchase fee.

Total cash needed in local currency Number of equal withdrawals ATM operator fee per withdrawal, local currency Card issuer fixed fee per withdrawal, home currency Issuer fee on withdrawn cash (%)

Model: cash / rate × (1 + percentage fee / 100), plus operator fee / rate and issuer fixed fee for each withdrawal. Excludes DCC, minimum fees, fee-free allowances and interest. Check cash limits and avoid carrying more cash than you need.

How the true cost is worked out

We convert your amount at the live mid-market rate to find the fair result, then at the provider's quoted rate (after their fee) to find what you actually get. The gap is the total cost, split into the exchange-rate markup and the visible fee. Mid-market is a reference, not a rate you can always transact at — but it is the honest yardstick. Not investment advice.