How it works
Every working day around 16:00 Central European Time, the European Central Bank publishes reference exchange rates for about 30 currencies against the euro. We fetch them from Frankfurter, a free public service that republishes the ECB data, and convert between any two currencies through the euro.
Amount in B = amount in A × (B per euro ÷ A per euro)
Weekends and holidays have no new rate, so a date without one shows the most recent rate before it.
Why your bank gives you a different number
Reference rates are mid-market rates: halfway between what banks pay to buy and to sell a currency. When you change money, your bank, card or exchange desk adds a margin on top, and sometimes a fee as well. Comparing the rate you're offered with the reference rate here shows how big that margin is.
Say the reference rate is 1 USD = 0.8764 EUR and a kiosk offers 0.82. You'd get €82 for $100 instead of €87.64, a margin of about 6.4% before any fee.
Questions people ask
Which currencies can I convert?
The roughly 30 currencies the ECB publishes, including the dollar, euro, pound, yen, Swiss franc, Canadian and Australian dollars, peso and rupee. Currencies outside the ECB list aren't covered.
How often do the rates update?
Once per working day, shortly after the ECB publishes around 16:00 CET. They are reference rates, not live trading prices.
How far does my money go once I've changed it?
An exchange rate doesn't tell you what things cost locally. For that, see The Dollar Around the World, which compares price levels across 160+ countries.
Sources
- European Central Bank: euro foreign exchange reference rates
- Frankfurter: open API for ECB reference rates
Reviewed September 24, 2026 by The Dollars World team. How we build and check our calculators. This is general information, not financial advice.