How to use it
- Choose the foreign currency and your own currency. The mid-market rate loads automatically, and you can overwrite it.
- Say whether you paid or bought the foreign currency, or sold it.
- Enter the foreign amount and either the amount you were charged (or received) or the rate the bank used.
- Read the markup as a percentage and the extra cost in your currency.
How the markup is calculated
The benchmark is the mid-market rate, the midpoint between buying and selling prices on the wholesale market. On the English site we use the European Central Bank's euro reference rates, with cross rates calculated by Kitpebble.
- If you paid in or bought a foreign currency: markup = (rate applied ÷ mid-market rate − 1) × 100.
- If you sold a foreign currency: markup = (1 − rate applied ÷ mid-market rate) × 100.
The rate applied is the amount you were charged divided by the foreign amount. That way the markup includes everything in the charge: the exchange rate margin and any percentage fees.
Example: paying by card abroad
You paid 100 EUR by card on a trip, and your statement shows $114.20. The ECB rate that day was 1 EUR = 1.1060 USD.
- Rate applied: 114.20 ÷ 100 = 1.1420 USD per euro.
- At the mid-market rate, the payment would have been $110.60.
- Extra cost: 114.20 − 110.60 = $3.60.
- Markup: (1.1420 ÷ 1.1060 − 1) × 100 = 3.25%.
If your bank tells you the rate it used instead of the total, enter that; you'll get the same markup.
Example: changing money back
After the trip you exchange 200 EUR back and receive $208.00. At 1.1060, the mid-market value was $221.20.
- Rate applied: 208 ÷ 200 = 1.0400.
- Cost of the exchange: $13.20, a markup of 5.97%.
When you compare offers, what matters is how much you end up with, not the advertised rate. A "no commission" exchange can still have a wide margin built into its rate.
Cards, DCC and exchange counters
Markups vary a lot, so it's worth checking after the fact:
- Credit and debit cards: your card network converts at its rate, and some cards add a foreign transaction fee on top, a percentage of each purchase. Others don't charge one, so check your card's terms.
- Dynamic currency conversion (DCC): terminals and ATMs abroad often offer to charge you in your home currency. The conversion is then done by the merchant's provider at its own rate, not by your card. Paying in the local currency is often cheaper, and this calculator lets you check.
- Exchange counters and airport kiosks: the cost is the gap between their buy and sell rates plus any handling fee.
The calculator doesn't rate providers. It shows how far one specific conversion was from the mid-market rate.
About the mid-market rate
We load the rate from the same source as the currency converters: the ECB's euro reference rates, or the Central Bank of Hungary's official rates if the ECB data isn't available, which we label. If your conversion happened on an earlier day, look up that day's rate with the historical exchange rates tool and type it into the mid-market field.
The markup calculator is also built into the currency converter and the euro to dollar page, in a section you can expand under the result.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a good exchange rate?
The closer to the mid-market rate, the better. The calculator shows the gap as a percentage, so you can compare offers.
Does the markup include fees?
If you enter the amount charged, yes: everything in the charge is included. If you only enter the rate, separately charged fees aren't.
Which mid-market rate does it use?
The ECB euro reference rate, with cross rates calculated by Kitpebble. You can overwrite it, for example with the rate for the day of your transaction.
What is dynamic currency conversion?
When a terminal or ATM abroad offers to charge you in your home currency. The merchant's provider then converts the amount at its own rate.
Sources
Last updated: November 14, 2026