The mid-market exchange rate is the 'middle' price between buying and selling a currency.
How is it calculated?
When currencies are exchanged, there are always two prices:
Buy rate - what someone will pay to buy a currency
Sell rate - what someone will accept to sell that currency
The mid-market rate is exactly halfway between those two. You'll see the mid-market rate on financial sites, and when you use Xe's currency converter tool. We use it here because it shows the value of a currency without being weighted toward buying or selling.
Example: If euros are bought at 1.08 and sold at 1.12, the mid-market rate is 1.10.
The mid-market rate is a reference rate. It’s not usually the rate individuals receive when exchanging money.
What rate will I get when I send money with Xe?
When you send money with Xe, you’ll receive the send rate.
What is the send rate?
When you send money abroad, we buy the foreign currency on your behalf. We then sell the currency to you at a slightly different rate - the send rate.
The difference between the rate we buy and sell at is called a margin. This margin varies, depending on the size of your transfer, the currencies you're exchanging, and market conditions. The margin forms part of our return for carrying out the exchange.
When you log in to your account and start a quote, you'll see the send rate.
How can I check the rate I'll get when I send money with Xe?
You'll see the rate when you start a quote in your Xe account, and again before you confirm your transfer. Enter the enter the actual amount you plan to send and check the Recipient receives amount when comparing providers.
Log in to your Xe account and tell us how much you want to send and where you're sending money to. You'll see the send rate underneath the currency you're sending.
We use live rates which may fluctuate - even between the time it takes for you to start your transfer and confirm. We'll always let you know if the send rate's changed on the Transfer summary screen, so that you can review your rate one final time.
- Once you confirm your transfer, your rate is fixed.
Can I track rates?
Yes, you can. Our currency charts show exchange rate movements between any two currencies over time. You can view performance over the last 12 hours, day, week, month, or year, making it easy to spot short-term swings and longer-term trends.
If you’re using the app, you can also set up a rate alert for a currency pair. We’ll let you know when the market moves in your favour, so you can transfer at a rate that works for you.
Currency charts and rate alerts are based on live mid-market rates.