How often are exchange rates updated? Is once a day enough?

[cahthuranag]

Some APIs update rates once a day. Is that good enough, or do I need real-time updates?

Answer

It depends on your use case:

Once-a-day is fine for:

• Accounting and bookkeeping (end-of-day rates)
• Monthly reports and invoices
• Historical analysis

Real-time (60-second) updates are needed for:

• E-commerce pricing — customers see stale prices if rates changed during the day
• Currency converters — users expect accurate, live data
• Trading and fintech apps — even small rate changes matter
• SaaS billing — incorrect conversions at checkout = lost revenue or chargebacks
• Travel apps — travelers making real-time decisions

How much do rates change in a day?

Major pairs like EUR/USD can move 0.5-1% in a single day. During volatile events (elections, central bank decisions, crises), moves of 2-5% in hours are common. A daily rate from 8am could be significantly wrong by 4pm.

Exchange Rate API updates rates every 60 seconds from Reuters (Refinitiv) and interbank feeds. Even the free tier gets the same 60-second updates — there's no artificial delay.

[cahthuranag]

It depends on your use case:

Once-a-day is fine for:

• Accounting and bookkeeping (end-of-day rates)
• Monthly reports and invoices
• Historical analysis

Real-time (60-second) updates are needed for:

• E-commerce pricing — customers see stale prices if rates changed during the day
• Currency converters — users expect accurate, live data
• Trading and fintech apps — even small rate changes matter
• SaaS billing — incorrect conversions at checkout = lost revenue or chargebacks
• Travel apps — travelers making real-time decisions

How much do rates change in a day?

Major pairs like EUR/USD can move 0.5-1% in a single day. During volatile events (elections, central bank decisions, crises), moves of 2-5% in hours are common. A daily rate from 8am could be significantly wrong by 4pm.

Exchange Rate API updates rates every 60 seconds from Reuters (Refinitiv) and interbank feeds. Even the free tier gets the same 60-second updates — there's no artificial delay.