Google autocomplete questions answered: “exchange rate” edition

Life is full of journeys. And I’ve been on quite the journey with Google autocomplete. I’ve dedicated hours (minutes) of my life, trawling through the biggest questions people ask Google. So far I’ve tackled your questions on:

• Our old self, AKA “Wise”
• Wise questions on things like wise potato chips and the three wise men
• That word currency conversion we’re always going on about here

And now, dear people, I bring you exchange rates.

If you haven’t read one of my previous articles of the series, which is likely all of you, then please be prepared to have a couple of your questions not really answered at all. Please also prepare for the questions to be phrased incredibly poorly, this isn’t a reflection on my inability to have focused in school. It’s just how people type things into search bars.

Let us begin…
Or not…
I’d understand if not

Your money questions actually answered

How exchange rate is calculated?

An exchange rate is how much you’ll spend in your “base currency” to exchange your money into a “foreign currency.”

Pretty easy.
Now let’s examine the fees.

A lot of banks, financial providers and all Bureau de Change shops mark up their prices and hide fees so they can make a profit on your exchange. And since different institutions set their own rates, there isn’t really one solid answer for how these rates are calculated. Basically, banks pay a certain amount of money for currency and then sell it off at a price. The midpoint of those two prices is what we call “the mid-market rate.” And it’s what we use at Wise.

While we work on making all global transfers eventually free, we use the mid-market rate, charge the smallest transaction fee possible, have an easy calculator for you to work out how much your exchange will cost you, and even have a button which will show you if it’s more affordable to send your money with us or one of our competitors. 😇So angelic 😇.

We also have a mid-market rate tracker, so you can see the live rates and look at how rates have changed over the last 30 years.

Do exchange rates change daily?

Much like the Big Apple and dolphins under one month old, currency traders never sleep.

Now you’re done writing down my dolphin fact, you can use Wise toset an alert so we can tell you when exchange rates get better so you don’t miss out on the best deal. We send out lovely little summaries to keep you in the loop.

Are exchange rates at airports bad?

Yes.

Who has the highest exchange rate?

Again, viva transparency.

Here’s our exchange rate comparison tool so you can put us against our competitors.

What is the most accurate exchange rate?

Ours, lol.

Are exchange rates better at the airport?

Come on now.

Should I accept ATM exchange rate?

NEVER.

I gave naughty, naughty ATM exchange rate fees a mention in my tourist traps article. And I’m ready to shame them once again. When you’re travelling around the world like a real-life Dora the Explorer you need to look out for a few things when taking cash out at an ATM because a lot of them have their own hiked up exchange rates.

But guess what?

With our Wise multi-currency card you can spend like a local and withdraw up to £200 for free when you’re abroad. Some ATM machines also have their own fees. So while Wise won’t charge you for your withdrawals, some machines will, so keep an eye out. If you have a Wise card, there’s a “Travel Hub” section that gives you information on pricing, fees, blogs on the country you're visiting if you’re abroad, ATM information, etc. How handy.

Compared to my other Google autocomplete articles, this one actually answered questions seriously. Sort of seriously. I don’t know if that pleases or disappoints you.

I’ve let you down, Wise won’t.

Get Wise

I said a lot of serious stuff with a lot of serious links so here's a serious link...

"Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information."

Goodbye.