Our Methodology

The advertised fee is not the price. This page explains exactly how we work out what a transfer, conversion, or product actually costs, so you can reproduce every number we publish.

The mid-market rate

The mid-market rate is the midpoint between buy and sell prices in global currency markets. It is the rate you see on XE, Reuters, or Google. It is the only neutral reference point, because it belongs to no provider.

Almost nobody transacts at this rate. The gap between it and the rate you are offered is a cost — it simply never gets labelled as one.

The formula

For any transfer, we need three things: the amount sent, the mid-market rate at that moment, and the amount the recipient actually receives.

value at mid-market = amount sent × mid-market rate
shortfall           = value at mid-market − amount received
true cost           = shortfall ÷ mid-market rate
true cost %         = true cost ÷ amount sent × 100

The result absorbs everything: the stated fee, the exchange-rate margin, and any charge that appears at the last screen. One number, comparable across providers.

Our capture rules

Exchange rates move continuously, so a comparison is only valid if every figure comes from the same moment.

  1. All provider figures for a single comparison are captured inside one short window, and we state the window.
  2. The mid-market reference is taken from an independent source, not from any provider being compared.
  3. Every figure carries a timestamp in UTC.
  4. Screenshots are retained for every figure we publish.
  5. Where a provider’s own published comparison is our source, we say so — and we recompute their arithmetic against an independent rate before publishing it.

What we do not do

We do not rank providers as “best.” Rankings flip with amount, corridor, delivery speed, and the day. We publish the method and the numbers so you can run it on your own transfer.

We do not measure speed, reliability, or customer service. We measure cost. The cheapest transfer is not automatically the right one.

We do not accept payment for placement, for a ranking, or for a conclusion. Where we earn a commission, we disclose it beside the link — and it does not change a number.

Corrections

If a figure here is wrong or out of date, email us. We correct it, and we publish what changed and when at the bottom of the affected article.