1 AUD buys
| Currency | Rate | |
|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.6974 | AUD → USD page |
| EUR | 0.6223 | AUD → EUR page |
| JPY | 110.46 | AUD → JPY page |
| GBP | 0.5264 | AUD → GBP page |
| NZD | 1.2433 | AUD → NZD page |
| INR | 67.02 | AUD → INR page |
| CNY | 4.6640 | AUD → CNY page |
| SGD | 0.8925 | AUD → SGD page |
| CAD | 0.9933 | AUD → CAD page |
| CHF | 0.5796 | AUD → CHF page |
STRUCK 11:00 AEST · TUE 13 OCT · mid-market reference rates, not dealing rates.
What this rate is, and what it is not
The figure above is a reference rate: a published observation of where a currency pair sat at a particular moment, produced so that everyone has a common yardstick. It is not an offer, and the institutions that publish these rates say so. The European Central Bank’s note on its euro foreign exchange reference rates reads: “The reference rates are published for information purposes only. Using the rates for transaction purposes is strongly discouraged.”
Two assumptions follow. It assumes a moment, not a stream: reference rates are struck on a schedule, and a figure read over an Australian weekend was struck on the last European working day, so an unmoving number means nothing has traded rather than that the currency is stable. And it assumes the midpoint of the wholesale market, which is not a price available to a retail customer.
A worked example. Converting 5,000 Australian dollars, a provider quoting a rate 2 per cent away from the reference figure is taking about 100 dollars on the transaction. Illustrative, not a quote from anyone. If that provider charges no separate fee, the service can be advertised as fee free and a customer comparing advertised fees sees nothing at all. The ACCC’s guidance is to “consider all parts of the price when comparing services and suppliers”, including “the retail exchange rate and any fees”, and it warns that “a service advertised as ‘fee free’ does not mean it will be the cheapest option”.
The conclusion to draw is that the reference figure is a measuring stick rather than a price. The distance between it and what you are quoted is the margin, and it is the real cost of the exchange. Ask each provider for the amount the recipient will receive rather than for the rate, because that single number contains the margin and any fee together.
Longer read: Why two currency converters disagree. Two converters showing different numbers for the same pair are usually both right. They differ on source and on the moment they struck, and neither is showing a rate anyone can transact at.
How a margin trades off against a flat fee by transfer size is set out in understanding transfer fees, and why two converters disagree at all in why two currency converters disagree. The methodology page sets out how the rates here are struck.