Exchange Rate Methodology

What Is a Mid-Market Rate?

The mid-market rate (also called the interbank rate or mid-rate) is the midpoint between the buy price and sell price of a currency on the global foreign exchange (forex) market. It is the fairest benchmark for comparing exchange rates because it contains no margin markup.

Banks, card processors, and money transfer services typically apply a markup of 0.5%–5% above the mid-market rate. This markup is their profit. ConverterJunction always shows the true mid-market rate — so you can see exactly how much of a markup any service is charging.

Our Data Source

Exchange rates are fetched from open.er-api.com, a reliable open exchange rate provider that aggregates rates from multiple tier-1 bank feeds. Rates are updated at the source every 60 minutes during market hours.

Our Cloudflare Worker fetches fresh rates every 60 seconds and caches them at the edge for 5 minutes — ensuring you always see a rate that is at most 5 minutes old under normal conditions.

Coverage

We provide rates for 150+ world currencies, including all major, minor, and exotic currency pairs. For thinly traded currencies (e.g., some African or Pacific island currencies), rates may be less frequently updated due to lower market liquidity.

Currency Pair Pages — How Rates Are Displayed

• The live rate shown on converter pages is fetched client-side at page load for maximum freshness
• 52-week high/low and YTD change are estimated using deterministic historical modelling based on known volatility characteristics of each pair
• Mini trend charts use a 7-day simulated trend based on recent directional bias — for illustration purposes
• All rates are mid-market only — the rate you will receive from a bank or service will differ

Forecast Methodology

Currency forecasts on ConverterJunction are generated by analysing:

• Central bank interest rate decisions and forward guidance (Fed, ECB, BoE, RBI, SBP, etc.)
• Inflation differentials between the two countries in the pair
• Current account balance and trade flow trends
• Political risk and geopolitical developments
• Technical analysis of recent price action and support/resistance levels

Forecast ranges represent a 12-month probability range, not point predictions. The "base case" represents the most likely scenario; the range captures approximately 70% of expected outcomes.

Important Limitations

Exchange rates are highly volatile and influenced by unpredictable events. Our data and forecasts are for reference and educational purposes only and do not constitute financial advice. Always verify rates before executing any financial transaction.