We believe there’s only one fair exchange rate — the mid-market rate, also known as the "real" or the interbank rate. It's the rate we use when we convert your money. Here we explain what it means and how you can check your rate before you transfer your money.
What is the mid-market rate?
The mid-market rate is what banks and money transfer services use to trade between themselves. We believe the mid-market rate is the “real” exchange rate, as it’s the midpoint between the buy and sell rates on global currency markets.
We get our rate from multiple independent rate providers, who update the rate in real-time during the trading market opening hours.
You should always compare rates and fees before you send or convert money as some providers may use their own exchange rate to apply margins or hide fees.
Learn more about the mid-market rate
How do you use this rate to convert money?
We use the full mid-market rate of 6 significant digits to convert money. If the 7th digit is 5 or above, we round the exchange rate up.
This means you may notice small differences between the rate we display and the rate we use to convert your money.
For example, if you see a rate of 1.2345 we will convert your money at the full mid market rate of 6 figures. This can result in a small difference in the rate we display and the rate we use. The full mid-market rate for 1.2345 could be rounded down from 1.23454 or rounded up from 1.23445.
We always give you the full mid-market rate exactly as shown by independent providers. It’s only fair.
How do you display exchange rates?
We always show you the mid-market rate when you use Wise.
When comparing the exchange rate from different providers, we show the mid-market rate with 6 significant digits such as 1.23456 or 0.123456. This is a widely accepted international currency conversion standard used by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
When you're sending, converting or adding money using Wise, we display rates with no more than 4 decimal places, such as 1.234. This is to meet regulations in many markets around the world. You’ll see the rate with 4 decimal places when you begin setting up a transfer through to the receipt when your transfer is complete.
When the exchange rate is less than 0.01 of a currency, we may show the rate in reverse to help you. For example, we show an exchange rate of 1 to 0.0001 as 1 to 10,000.
Can I track the rate?
You can see the current mid-market rate for your currency route, and its changes over the last 30 days, using our rate tracker. You can also sign up for rate alerts there — we’ll send you daily updates on the rate or let you know when it reaches a certain value.