FX Markup Revealer

How to use it

Enter the amount, the fee you were quoted, and two exchange rates: the real mid-market rate and the one your provider offered. The difference between those rates is a cost that never appears on the quote, and the calculator prices it.

Where the number comes from

• The mid-market rate is the midpoint between buy and sell prices — the rate quoted on financial sites, and the only one with no margin built in.
• The rate markup is (mid − quoted) ÷ mid, expressed as a percentage. It is the provider’s margin on the conversion.
• The hidden cost is that percentage applied to the amount actually converted, which is your amount less any up-front fee.
• Total cost is the stated fee plus the hidden markup. The effective cost is that total as a share of what you sent.
• Nothing here fetches live rates, which is deliberate — you enter both, so the comparison is against the rate that was genuinely available at the moment you were quoted.

What goes wrong

The part most calculators leave out.

• Rates move. To compare fairly, take the mid-market rate at the same moment you were quoted, not hours later — otherwise you are measuring market movement rather than markup.
• Check the direction of the pair. Quoting 0.92 when you meant 1.087 inverts the whole calculation, and the result will look absurdly good or bad.
• Some providers deduct the fee after conversion rather than before. The difference is small but real, and this model assumes fee first.
• Intermediary and correspondent bank charges are not included. On international wires these are deducted in transit, so the recipient can receive less than even this calculation predicts.
• The receiving bank may apply its own charge or its own conversion at the far end. Neither is visible from the sending side.
• A weekend or holiday rate is not a markup. Providers widen spreads when markets are shut, so measuring then overstates the ordinary cost.

Questions

What is the mid-market rate?

The midpoint between the buying and selling price of a currency pair — the rate you see on financial news sites and search engines. No consumer transfer happens at exactly this rate, but it is the benchmark every markup is measured against.

Where do I find the real rate for free?

Any major financial site quotes it, and the European Central Bank publishes daily reference rates for euro pairs at no cost. Take the reading at the same time as your quote.

Why do banks hide the cost in the rate?

Because a fee is compared and a rate is not. "No transfer fee" is easy to advertise and hard to price, and most customers have no reference point for what the rate should have been.

Is a 0.3% markup reasonable?

It depends on the pair, the amount and the provider. The point of this calculator is not to say what is fair but to make the number visible — once you can see it, you can compare providers on it and negotiate it.

Does anything I type get sent anywhere?

No. The whole calculation runs in your browser. Nothing is transmitted, stored, or logged, and there is no account to create.