Currency Converter
The UAE dirham has been pegged at 3.6725 per US dollar since November 1997, so 100 USD converts to 367.25 AED, and a 2.5% fee cuts what you receive to 358.07 AED. This currency converter runs that math for any pair on the list. Enter the amount, the two currencies, the rate you were quoted as 1 unit of the first currency in the second, and any fee or spread in percent. It returns the converted amount, the fee, the amount received after the fee, the effective rate, and the inverse rate. The converter does not fetch live exchange rates, and it stores none. Most currency pairs move every trading day, so the rate worth entering is the one your bank, card issuer, or transfer service shows for this transaction. The dirham is used as the starting example because its peg does not drift.
Quick answer
The tool converts at the rate you type in. It has no rate feed and no stored rates.
What this tells you
- •The tool converts at the rate you type in. It has no rate feed and no stored rates.
- •Enter the rate as 1 unit of the From currency equals this many units of the To currency.
- •A fee or spread in percent comes off the converted amount and lowers the effective rate by the same percentage.
- •The inverse rate shows the same quote from the other side: 1 unit of the To currency in the From currency.
- •Money results show two decimals, with the fee rounded before it is subtracted. Rates show 6 significant digits.
How to Use
- 1Enter the amount you are converting, in the From currency.
- 2Pick the From and To currencies. Changing either one clears the rate box, because a quote only fits the pair it was given for.
- 3Type the rate you were quoted as 1 From = ? To. Check the direction: if the quote reads 1 AED = 0.2723 USD, set From to AED and To to USD.
- 4Add a fee or spread in percent if the provider charges one. Leave it at 0 when the quoted rate already includes the markup and there is no separate percentage fee.
- 5Click Convert and read the amount received. For a card purchase, add the fee to the converted amount instead, because the card adds it to your bill.
How It Works
Formula
Converted = Amount x Rate
Fee = Converted x Fee% / 100
Received = Converted - Fee
Effective Rate = Rate x (1 - Fee% / 100)
Inverse Rate = 1 / RateRate is the quote you enter, written as 1 unit of the From currency in units of the To currency. The fee is a percentage of the converted amount, which is the same as taking that percentage off the starting amount before converting. The effective rate is what you actually get per unit after the fee, so two offers can be compared on one number. The inverse rate flips the quote, which helps when a provider prices the pair the other way around. Money rounds half up to two decimals, the fee is rounded before it is subtracted so the three money lines always add up, and rates show 6 significant digits.
Calculation note: values are processed in the order shown above, using the current input units.
Worked Examples
Example: 100 USD to AED at the dirham peg
These are the form's starting values. The peg makes 3.6725 a fixed reference, but a bank or exchange house still sets its own retail rate around it and may add a fee, so enter its numbers when you actually change money.
Example: a 240 EUR hotel night on a card with a 3% fee
1.10 is an example rate, not today's. The card network converts 240 EUR to 264.00 USD, and a 3% foreign transaction fee is 7.92 USD. A card adds that fee to your bill rather than paying you less, so add the fee line to the converted amount. The amount received line, 256.08 USD, is the figure that applies when a fee comes out of money you are receiving.
Example: a mid-market rate plus a 3% spread
Both rates are examples. Say a reference site shows 1.25 and the provider quotes 1.2125. Entering 1.25 with a 3% spread gives 1,000.00 USD converted, a 30.00 USD spread cost, and 970.00 USD received. Entering 1.2125 with a 0% fee gives the same 970.00 USD. Use one method or the other, because entering the provider's rate and the spread together counts the markup twice.
Example: 1,500 USD to PKR with a 1.5% transfer fee
280 is an example rate, not a current one. At that rate 1,500 USD converts to 420,000.00 PKR. The 1.5% fee is 6,300.00 PKR, so the recipient gets 413,700.00 PKR, an effective rate of 275.8 PKR per dollar. If the service also charges a flat fee, convert that fee at the same rate and subtract it as well.
Amount received from 1,000 USD in AED at fees of 0 to 3%
Each row converts 1,000 USD at the 3.6725 dirham peg and then applies a fee or spread. Read across for the fee in dirhams, what is left, the effective rate, and the same fee in dollars. Every 1% costs 10 USD on 1,000 USD, whatever the currency pair.
| Fee or spread | Fee (AED) | Amount received (AED) | Effective rate (1 USD = ? AED) | Fee in USD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0% | 0.00 | 3,672.50 | 3.6725 | 0.00 |
| 0.5% | 18.36 | 3,654.14 | 3.65414 | 5.00 |
| 1% | 36.73 | 3,635.77 | 3.63578 | 10.00 |
| 1.5% | 55.09 | 3,617.41 | 3.61741 | 15.00 |
| 2% | 73.45 | 3,599.05 | 3.59905 | 20.00 |
| 2.5% | 91.81 | 3,580.69 | 3.58069 | 25.00 |
| 3% | 110.18 | 3,562.32 | 3.56233 | 30.00 |
Computed with this calculator: amount 1,000, From USD, To AED, rate 3.6725, fee as shown. The fee is rounded half up to two decimals and then subtracted, which is why the 1% and 3% rows end 0.01 below 1,000 times the effective rate. The fee in USD column is the AED fee divided by 3.6725, rounded to the cent. The 3.6725 rate is the Central Bank of the UAE's fixed rate for the US dollar, listed at that value in the bank's monthly exchange rate tables, including June 2026. The fee percentages are illustrations, not any provider's pricing.
Mid-market, reference, and retail exchange rates
Every currency pair has two prices at any moment: the rate dealers will buy at and the rate they will sell at. The midpoint between them is what reference sites call the mid-market rate. Banks, exchange counters, and transfer services quote you a retail rate on the less favorable side of that midpoint, and the gap is the spread. A spread costs money even when an offer says no fee. To measure it, divide the gap between the reference rate and the quote by the reference rate. A quote of 1.2125 against a reference of 1.25 is a 3% spread, which is why the GBP example above returns the same 970.00 USD both ways.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve Board publishes daily exchange rates in its H.10 release. They are noon buying rates in New York for cable transfers payable in foreign currencies, based on data the Federal Reserve Bank of New York collects from a sample of market participants, and that bank certifies them for customs purposes under section 522 of the Tariff Act of 1930. The release is updated weekly on Mondays with data through the previous Friday, so it is a record of recent rates, not a quote you can trade at.
The European Central Bank publishes euro foreign exchange reference rates at around 16:00 CET on working days, except TARGET closing days. They are set through a daily concertation among central banks at about 14:10 CET, and the ECB describes them as averages of buying and selling rates, published for information only and not intended for market transactions. For card payments in EU currencies, Regulation (EU) 2021/1230 uses them as the yardstick: card issuers, and any ATM or shop that offers to convert at the point of sale, must state the total conversion charge as a percentage markup over the latest ECB reference rate. With the ECB rate in the rate box, that markup is the number for the fee box.
Fees depend on the channel. For US credit cards, the CFPB's official commentary to Regulation Z (12 CFR 1026.4) defines a foreign transaction fee as anything charged above the amount converted at a rate outside the issuer's control, and its example is a 1 percent network charge plus a 2 percent issuer charge, 3 percentage points in total. Issuers list the fee in the rate and fee table for card applications under 12 CFR 1026.60. For international transfers sent from the US, Regulation E (12 CFR 1005.31) requires the provider's disclosure to show the exchange rate, the fees and taxes, and the amount the recipient will receive, which are the figures to enter here when you check or compare quotes.
The UAE dirham is the exception to rates that drift. An IMF staff report on the UAE records the dirham at 3.6710 per dollar until November 1997 and at 3.6725 since then, and the Central Bank of the UAE still lists the US dollar at 3.6725 in its monthly exchange rate tables. A fixed official rate does not make every dirham quote the same, though. Banks and exchange houses set their own buy and sell rates around it and may charge fees, so the peg is a clean reference point, not a promise of what a counter will pay.
Common mistakes
- Entering the rate in the wrong direction, such as 0.2723 for USD to AED when the quote means 1 AED = 0.2723 USD.
- Adding a spread percentage on top of a provider's own retail rate, which counts the markup twice.
- Copying a rate from a search result or an old screenshot and treating it as the rate your provider will use today.
- Reading a card fee as money taken off what you receive. On a card, the fee is added to your statement.
- Leaving out flat fees. This tool handles one percentage fee, so subtract a flat transfer fee separately.
- Comparing offers by headline rate instead of by the amount received after every fee.
Limitations
This currency converter does not fetch, store, or update exchange rates. Every result uses only the rate you type in, so it is only as current as that quote. Rates shown on this page other than the dirham peg are examples, not market data. The tool models one percentage fee or spread taken from the converted amount. Flat fees, minimum charges, tiered pricing, taxes, intermediary or receiving-bank charges, and cash handling costs are outside the calculation. Money results round half up to two decimals, even for currencies usually handled in whole units such as the yen, and providers may round at a different step. Even at the peg, a bank or exchange house sets its own retail rate.
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