Exchanging Currency for Travel or Trading Currency for Business?

Banks and other institutions charge consumers a fee for currency conversion or foreign exchange. This fee is built into the currency exchange rates that they offer to customers. Consumers can typically expect to pay 4% when exchanging currency in small amounts "over the counter". Exchange rates can be more or less depending on where and how you exchange your currency. You can expect to pay more - 7 to 9% - at retail outlets or in "convenience" locations like airports or foreign ATM's. You'll likely get the best exchange rate from your bank or a dedicated foreign exchange company.

The foreign exchange rates posted on this site are daily interbank rates used by large financial institutions and currency traders.

Trading Currency for Profit?

Foreign Exchange traders buy and sell currencies on the open "FOREX" or Foreign Exchange market. Traders may profit from small intraday swings or longer term trends in the values between commonly traded currency pairs. FOREX trading has become increasingly popular due to the availability of online FOREX trading resources and the low barrier to entry: There are no trade commissions charged on FOREX trades other than small built-in spreads and margin accounts of 100:1 or more are very common.