The Currency Data API gives you the rate of every currency we cover against a base currency you choose, at a specific point in time. It works with any software that can make web requests.
For technical questions, such as which endpoint to use or how obsolete currency codes work, see our Currency Data API developer FAQs.
Which currencies does the API cover?
The API gives rates for:
- 170 currencies in use today
- 212 currencies if you include obsolete ones
- 237 currencies if you also include cryptocurrencies
- 4 precious metals
It also gives rates published by 100 central banks and 23 alternative sources (see Which rates do you provide? below).
Our list goes beyond the ISO 4217 standard. It includes offshore currencies, such as CNH, and cryptocurrencies. For the full list, including when each currency was introduced or withdrawn, see our developer FAQs.
Which ERP and CRM platforms can I connect it to?
The API is a REST service, so any platform that can make web requests can use it. Customers connect it to platforms including:
- SAP
- Oracle
- Microsoft
- Sage
- Salesforce
- Workday
These partners also offer software that connects other systems to the API:
- Deltek
- Insight Software (formerly FX Loader)
If you use Microsoft Business Central, you can get our own add-on from Microsoft AppSource.
Which rates do you provide?
Our main rates are Xe's own:
- Spot mid-market rates: the current midpoint between buy and sell prices on global currency markets
- Historical mid-market rates: mid-market rates for past dates and time periods
- Spot bid and ask rates (beta): indicative buy and sell prices, updated every 10 seconds
We also provide central bank rates and alternative source rates. These are official or published rates from other organisations, not Xe's own rates. Each has its own endpoint.
Do you offer market open and close rates?
No. Depending on your rate frequency, you can work out the open or close rate using the time parameter.
We update rates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, using live feeds from global currency markets. This means a currency's rate can change even when its own country's markets are closed. If a currency isn't traded often, we use the most recent data available.
Do you provide buy and sell rates?
Yes, in beta. Bid and ask rates come from the Bid & Ask Rates (Beta) endpoint, which covers:
AUD, BRL, CAD, CHF, CNH, DKK, EUR, GBP, JPY, NOK, NZD, PLN, SEK, and USD
You can request most pairs in either direction. A few pairs involving CNH (offshore Chinese yuan) aren't available. Our developer FAQs list them.
Some central banks and alternative sources also publish their own buy and sell rates. See below.
Do you provide forward rates?
No. The API doesn't support forward rates.
Do you provide historical rates?
Yes. Our historical rates go back to 16 November 1995. They include currencies that have since been renamed, redenominated, or withdrawn. Our developer FAQs explain how to request them.
Why doesn't the rate change between my calls?
How often your rate changes depends on your package's rate frequency: daily, hourly, every 15 minutes, or live.
Daily packages return the rate as it stood at your account's daily lock-in time. Every call until the next lock-in returns the same rate. This is how daily rates work. The data isn't out of date.
- On a paid package, you can set your lock-in time and time zone in the Web App. Free trials use 00:00 UTC, and you can't change this.
- If you choose a local time zone, such as America/New_York, your lock-in time in UTC moves when the clocks change. Choose UTC if you need it fixed all year.
- To get a past day's rate at your lock-in time, see our developer FAQs.
Do you provide central bank rates?
Yes. The Central Bank Exchange Rates endpoint gives you the official rates published by 100 central banks, including the European Central Bank, the Bank of England, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Use it when you need to match a country's official reference rate rather than the market rate.
Each central bank publishes on its own schedule. Most publish daily. A few publish weekly or monthly. 37 of them also publish buy and sell rates, which you can request alongside the mid rate.
The API documentation lists every bank and when it publishes. Our developer FAQs explain how to request buy and sell rates.
Do you provide any other rates?
Yes, we also provide cryptocurrency rates and alternative source rates.
Cryptocurrencies: the API covers 12 cryptocurrencies. Their rates come from our mid-market rates, so you request them the same way as any other currency.
Alternative sources: these are rates published by organisations other than central banks, such as commercial banks, exchanges, and customs and tax authorities. The Alternative Source Exchange Rates endpoint gives rates from 23 of these sources. Use it when you need to match the rates of a specific bank or government body.
Most sources publish daily, and some monthly. 13 of them also publish buy and sell rates. The API documentation lists every source.