Your eyes on the market

Following Exchange Rates

EXCHANGE RATES & TIMing

Keeping track of exchange rates can be tricky. Foreign exchange is the world’s largest financial market, and rates move 24 hours per day during the working week, often reacting to world events with sharp movements – all of which affect your budget.

At A Place in the Sun Currency, our experienced team of account managers is watching exchange rates are watching exchange rates all day, every day, so you don’t have to.

Following rates online will give you a good idea of market movement – but bear in mind that rates shown on currency converters usually display the ‘mid-market’ rate, which is the average rate between buying and selling rates, rather than a widely available rate.

Online rates may also be out of date, which can matter in a constantly moving market, whereas your A Place in the Sun Currency account manager has access to live rates direct from the wholesale FX markets. The rate we can offer you will be based on the market rates available.

Being Realistic

You can also use our service to help keep your aims realistic. Hoping for a dramatic improvement in rates in a short space of time can often lead to disappointment – so talk to your account manager about recent highs and lows, and upcoming economic data releases, and then you can make a more educated decision when it comes to timing your purchase.

Human nature dictates that you will want to wait for a better exchange rate for your transfer than might be available at any given time – but the laws of probability mean that an exchange rate is just as likely to move against you as it is to move in your favour.

So it can sometimes pay to be cautious. Leaving a transaction until the last minute means that you are stuck with whatever is available, whichever way rates have moved. If you are holding out for a small improvement, it’s worth considering the risk to your overall cost, should rates fall and leave your budget stretched.