Any pair, computed through the US dollar
Many quick converters focus on the two or three dozen most-searched currencies. The big services do carry rarer pairs too, but they rarely show the cross-rate path or the reference timestamp. That covers the euro, the pound and the yen, and leaves you stuck the moment you need something else — sending money to family in Kazakhstan, pricing goods in Papua New Guinea, working with offshore yuan rather than onshore.
The usual workaround is to convert twice: your currency to dollars, then dollars to the target. That works, but it is two lookups, two roundings, and an easy place to make a mistake. This converter carries every currency the rate feed publishes — over 160 — and does the cross rate in one step.
How a cross rate works
Every rate in the feed is quoted against the US dollar. To get a rate between two other currencies, you divide one by the other.
Say 1 USD buys 474.7 KZT and 1 USD buys 65.7 AFN. Then one tenge is worth 65.7 ÷ 474.7 = 0.1384 afghani, and 650,000 tenge is about 89,900 afghani. Going through the dollar like this is the standard method — it is how the feed itself is constructed, and it is what any converter does internally whether or not it says so.
One consequence worth knowing: a cross rate inherits the error of both legs. For heavily traded pairs that is negligible. For two thinly traded currencies, the mid-market cross rate can sit some distance from what anyone will actually transact at, because there may be no direct market between them at all.
Mid-market is not what you pay
The rate here is the midpoint between the buying and selling price in the wholesale market. Nobody offers it to retail customers. What you actually get depends on how you exchange:
- Card payments abroad — usually the closest to mid-market, roughly 1% away once the network and issuer margins are counted. Decline "pay in your home currency" offers at the terminal; that is dynamic currency conversion and it is consistently worse.
- Bank transfers — a spread plus a fixed fee. The fixed part matters most on small amounts.
- Cash at a counter — the widest spread, and airport counters are the worst almost everywhere. If you need cash on arrival, changing a small amount at the airport and the rest later is the usual compromise.
How current is this?
Rates are fetched once a day when the site is rebuilt and written directly into the page, which is why the numbers appear before any script runs. That makes them a daily reference, not a live feed. For a large transfer or anything time-sensitive, confirm with whoever is actually executing it.
The primary source is ExchangeRate-API. European Central Bank euro reference rates are used as a cross-check — note that the ECB publishes rates against the euro only, so any dollar pair derived from them is itself a cross rate.
What this converter assumes
- All rates are quoted per 1 USD · cross rate = target rate ÷ source rate
- Mid-market rates, updated once a day at build time
- No fees, spreads or commissions are applied — those depend on your provider
- Source: ExchangeRate-API · cross-check: ECB euro reference rates
Frequently asked questions
Why doesn't my currency pair show up in other converters?
Most converters cover the 20 or 30 currencies with the highest search volume and stop there. Pairs like Kazakhstani tenge to Afghan afghani or offshore yuan to Papua New Guinean kina simply are not offered, so you end up converting twice by hand. This converter carries every currency the rate feed publishes — over 160 — and computes the cross rate for you.
How is a cross rate calculated?
Both currencies are quoted against the US dollar, so the pair rate is one divided by the other. If 1 USD is 474.7 KZT and 1 USD is 65.7 AFN, then 1 KZT is 65.7 ÷ 474.7 = 0.1384 AFN. Going through the dollar is the standard method and is how the underlying feed is published.
How often are the rates updated?
Once a day. The figures are fetched at build time and baked into the page, so they are present before any script runs — which also means they are a daily reference rather than a live market feed. For anything time-sensitive, check with your bank or broker.
Will I get this rate at the bank?
No. These are mid-market reference rates, the midpoint between buying and selling. Banks, exchange counters and card networks all add a spread on top, typically a few percent for cash and around one percent for card transactions. Airport counters are the most expensive place to change money almost everywhere.
Where do the rates come from?
ExchangeRate-API, updated once a day, with European Central Bank euro reference rates used as a cross-check. Both sources are named with links at the bottom of the calculator. Nothing you type is sent anywhere — the conversion runs in your browser.