How it works

FX Pounce is not a bank. The number on the page is the middle of a few public price lists. It is not a price someone has offered you.

The middle price

We keep each list as “how many of this currency for 1 US dollar”. Euros for 1 pound is worked out from those two dollar prices. A list counts only when it has both currencies.

The big number is the middle of the lists that qualify. One list is labelled as one list. Two or more show how far the highest and lowest sit apart, as a percent. A wide gap means the lists disagree. We show that on purpose.

The lists

• European Central Bank — Daily reference rates, via Frankfurter.
• ExchangeRate-API — Open endpoint. Broad ISO coverage, updated through the day.
• FloatRates — Daily published rates against the US dollar.
• Currency API — Daily community dataset. ISO codes and metal references when present.

The European Central Bank list is once a day and does not cover every currency. The other lists fill the rest. A currency with no list stays on the page as a blank, so you can see the gap.

The chart is the daily history for a day, a week, a month, or a year. It uses the European Central Bank when both currencies are in that list, and another daily list otherwise. The live middle price on the page is a separate figure.

Gold and other metals

Gold, silver, platinum, and palladium appear only when a list publishes them. They sit apart from everyday currencies.

Changing an amount

We multiply your amount by that same middle price. The page also lists each list’s own result. Nothing is added for a fee.

A saved sum

An account can store a fixed sum, such as 115,000 euros, and show the pounds. Today’s figure is that sum times the middle price. The chart is the same sum over time, with a line at the pounds on the day you saved it. Changing the sum or the currencies starts that line again.

Banks and apps

A saved sum can also show what a firm publishes. Revolut’s figure is their public converter for that amount. The other rows come from prices and fees Wise collects about once an hour. HSBC UK and other high-street banks appear only when Wise has them for that direction and that amount. HSBC Expat does not publish a rate unless you are signed in, so that card stays blank. None of these figures are mixed into the middle price, and none of them is an offer.

Alerts

A watcher starts at today’s middle price. Lowest emails you when a later price falls through it. Highest emails you when a later price rises through it. “Move by %” emails you when the price has shifted that far from the price at the start. You can set any mix. A saved sum can email you when the pounds cross a number you set. After an email, that alert stays quiet for six hours.

The server checks the lists every ten minutes. That is how alerts get sent. Bank and app rows refresh about once an hour.