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Currency Converter Help

  1. Why can't I find the currency I'm looking for?
  2. Why can't I convert currencies?
  3. Why did I get exchange rate information for a date that is different than the date I requested?
  4. The flashing advertising banners are sometimes annoying. What is being done about this?
  5. Why is yesterday's exchange rate usually the most recent available?
  6. Can you tell me the best time to exchange my money or to buy or sell currencies?
  7. May I link to the 164 Currency Converter or the "Cheat Sheet for Travelers" from my home page?
  8. How often is data for the 164 Currency Converter updated?
  9. How accurate is the 164 Currency Converter?
  10. Why can't I get the exchange rates you show from a bank?
  11. How do I choose the rate type on the "Cheat Sheet for Travelers"?
  12. Is the data provided on the 164 Currency Converter comparable to the exchange rates published in the Wall Street Journal?
  13. How can I find out about advertising opportunities on the 164 Currency Converter?
  14. Why do the number of prices used to compute exchange rates differ from day to day?
  15. I'd like to get exchange rate information across a number of currencies. May I download custom-designed tables from OANDA to meet this need?
  16. Can I get a daily email from OANDA with specific exchange rates?
  17. Is there a way I can get monthly or yearly averages for specific currencies from OANDA?
  18. How can I get exchange rates prior to 1990?

See also

1. Why can't I find the currency I'm looking for?

There may be several reasons why you cannot find a particular currency in the list of currencies.
  • Reliable data for the currency is simply not yet available from financial institutions. Examples of such currencies are the Zaire New Zaire and the Yemen Riyal. If you don't find a particular currency, you may want to check this site again in a few months since OANDA is continually expanding its currency coverage.
  • The name of the currency you are looking for does not match the name listed in the 164 Currency Converter scrolling lists. For example, you may be looking for the "Peso" for Mexico when this currency is listed as the "Mexican Peso." Please be sure to look for the name of the country first.
  • The currency may be listed in abbreviated form. See the table below.

Here is a list of abbreviations we use:

Currency name or description

Abbreviation

CFA Franc for Benin, Burkino Faso, Cote D'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo CFA Franc BCEAO CFA Franc for Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon CFA Franc BEAC European Currency Unit ECU United Arab Emirates Dirham Utd. Arab Emir. Dirham

2. Why can't I convert currencies?

Usually this problem occurs when you have skipped a step in the instructions for using the 164 Currency Converter. Be sure to highlight the currencies you want to convert from and to in the currency lists. Click the scrolling arrows to display further portions of the lists. Be sure you click the "Convert Now!" button. See How to Convert Currencies.

If you are following the instructions and still having problems, try one of these solutions:

  • Make sure that you have configured your system and your Web browser correctly. We have experienced several badly configured browsers. Your Internet service provider, your system administrator, or (most of the time) your Internet-savvy friends should be able to help you.
  • Make sure that you are using a browser that is compatible with the 164 Currency Converter. We have tested our site with Netscape Navigator 4.0 and newer, and Internet Explorer 4.0 and newer. Use one of these browsers for best results. Most other browsers work well for most parts of the site but might run into problems on certain (Javascript or Java enabled) pages.

3. Why did I get exchange rate information for a date that is different than the date I requested?

Data for some currencies is not available on a day-to-day basis, particularly for some currencies of emerging markets. When the 164 Currency Converter does not have data for the date you request, it will automatically give you information for the latest date. For most currencies, we have exchange rate information for every day since January 1st, 1990.

4. The flashing advertising banners are sometimes annoying. What is being done about this?

We are aware that this can sometimes create problems with our online currency services. To be able to offer this free service which is useful to our users worldwide we have no other possibility than to accept sponsors. We are carefully evaluating the implementation of advertising for this service.

An alternative to the standard Currency Services is the Customized Currency Converter, and Customized Currency Cheatsheet, an enhanced version that is subscription based.

5. Why is yesterday's exchange rate usually the most recently available?

The 164 Currency Converter is updated daily at 06:00 PM EST. Before that time, the exchange rates are based on all available price points from the previous day.

6. Can you tell me the best time to exchange my money or to buy or sell currencies?

No, we do not give personal consulting on the exact date and time to exchange your money or buy or sell currencies. To find out the best places to change your money, contact your local bank or travel agency. If you are traveling, you may want to check our new currency delivery service to your home: FXDelivery.

See also our Internet-based financial services for forecasts and analyses of currencies and the foreign exchange markets.

7. May I link to the "164 Currency Converter" or the "Cheat Sheet for Travelers" from my home page?

Yes, please do. Here how:

  1. To link to our home page, please use the following HTML code:
    <a href="http://www.oanda.com">OANDA.com, The Currency Site</a>
    Here's how this will look:
    OANDA.com, The currency Site
  2. To link to our currency converter, please use the following HTML code:

    <a href="http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic">FXConverter - 164 Currency Converter</a>
    <br>provided by <a href="http://www.oanda.com">OANDA.com, The Currency Site</a>

    Here's how this will look:
    FXConverter - 164 Currency Converter
    provided by OANDA.com, The Currency Site.
  3. To link to our travelers cheatsheet, please use:

    <a href="http://www.oanda.com/convert/cheatsheet">FXCheatSheet - Travelers Currency Cheatsheet</a>
    <br> provided by <a href="http://www.oanda.com">OANDA.com, The Currency Site</a>.

    Here's how this will look:
    FXCheatSheet - Travelers Currency Cheatsheet
    provided by OANDA.com, The Currency Site.
    If you would like to link to any of our 7 different languages of the Currency Converter (FXConverter) or Travelers Cheatsheet (FXCheatSheet), please do not hesitate to contact us and ask us how.

    Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee return links due to the extreme popularity of our Web site.

8. How often is data for the 164 Currency Converter updated?

The 164 Currency Converter is updated daily at 06:00 PM EST (Eastern Standard Time) with data from the previous day.

9. How accurate is the 164 Currency Converter?

The results you get by converting any amount of a currency to another is rounded to four decimal digits or four digits after the leading zeros with a few exceptions. If you want to know the exact exchange rate we use at a given moment, take the average of the bid and the ask of the "median price" (shown in the conversion results). The exchange rate we use is based on interbank market rates (see below).

10. Why can't I get the exchange rates you show from a bank?

The prices quoted by the 164 Currency Converter or the "Cheat Sheet for Travelers" are based on interbank market rates and generally reflect the exchange rates for transactions of US $1 million or more. These are the "official" rates quoted in the media, such as The Wall Street Journal. Retail spreads (the difference between the buy and sell prices) for smaller amounts are not reflected in these interbank prices since they vary among payment systems, countries and banks. These retail rates, which are used by credit cards or cash exchanges in banks or other exchange services, usually include 1 to 10 percent margins on the top of the interbank rates. For example, if the interbank rate for 1 German Mark converted to US Dollar is $0.54, typically you need to present approximately $57 in a bank to get 100 German Mark.

If you go to a bank in your home country, you usually have to pay more of your home currency to get foreign currency than you will receive of your home currency, if you return the foreign currency. This results in the two exchange rates shown in the margin result.

Because these retail rates vary so much in every place, we cannot advise you where to go at any given moment to change currencies. You can usually find out such information from your local bank, travel guides, or people who have visited the place you are heading for.

11. How do I choose the rate type on the "Cheat Sheet for Travelers"?

Be sure you have chosen the destination currency and your home currency correctly. You home currency is what you would present in a bank to get your destination currency.
  • If you need the "official" rates, choose the "interbank rate";
  • If you are going to mostly use your credit cards while you travel and your destination and home currencies are among the major currencies, you may choose the typical credit card rate which includes a 2% margin on the top of the interbank rate;
  • If you are going to mostly use cash while you travel and your destination and home currencies are among the major currencies, you may choose the typical cash rate which includes a 4 to 6% margin on the top of the interbank rate. This is usually close to the rate you get from a bank for major currencies.
  • Less frequently traded currencies are usually sold with higher margins. If you believe the exchange rates you get during your travel were/are not close to the typical rates we suggest above, click the button next to "choose my own margin" and enter your margin in the text box. You may use this option to provide your customers with the "Cheat Sheet" if you run a hotel or other travel services that offer currency exchanges.

12. Is the data provided by the 164 Currency Converter comparable to the exchange rates published in the Wall Street Journal?

Yes, it is. The 164 Currency Converter provides averages for the global foreign exchange market gathered from "high frequency" databases. The data is compiled from the leading market data vendors as well as contributing financial institutions. The data is filtered and stored in a proprietary data repository. We do not take market closing prices as the "average" price. Instead we take the average from all our collected data, reflecting the fact that the foreign exchange market never really "closes" but operates 24 hours a day on a global basis.

13. How can I find out about advertising opportunities with OANDA?

Please check out the link to advertising info on our home page, or inquire with the OANDA team.

14. Why do the number of prices used to compute exchange rates differ from day to day?

We collect data from live market data suppliers. Banks update these prices continuously on a global basis. However, market activity is lower on weekends and holidays, thus explaining the differing number of prices from day to day.

15. I'd like to get exchange rate information across a number of currencies. May I download custom-designed tables from OANDA to meet this need?

Yes. Visit any of these services to get the exchange rates in the format that meets your requirements:
- FXDaily provides a one to many currency exchange table in HTML, ASCII or CSV in 7 different languages
- FXCrossRate provides currency exchange cross rate table

16. Can I get a daily email from OANDA with specific exchange rates?

Yes. FXMail sends out currency exchange rates to your email account on a daily, weekly or monthly basis in CSV, HTML or ASCII format.

17. Is there a way I can get monthly or yearly averages for specific currencies from OANDA?

Yes. FXAverage is an online tool that enables you to calculate weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly average exchange rates.

18. How can I get exchange rates prior to 1990?

Filtered sets of price data are available from Olsen Data group. These data sets contain time series over fixed intervals. Please visit Olsen Data Web site to obtain further information on how to obtain exchange rates prior to 1990.

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