Currency exchange
Conversion quoted against a published mid rate with the margin in basis points, posted to the ledger as two linked legs so the cost of every conversion stays measurable afterwards.
Anyone holding more than one currency: traders buying stock abroad, families receiving in one currency and spending in another, businesses pricing in USD and paying in CDF.
Built, tested and switched off. It is a function of an issuer or an acquirer, so it stays off until the corresponding authorisation is recorded, or until an authorised institution operates it on the platform. Nothing here is offered to a customer meanwhile. This service will be available after the authorisation of the Banque Centrale du Congo; it is switched off by the administrator
The problem
A conversion usually appears on a statement as a single line with a new amount in it. The rate is gone, the reference is gone, and there is no way to tell later whether it was a good one.
How it works
- Ask for a quote between the two currencies and the amount.
- The quote shows the rate, the mid rate, the margin in basis points and the resulting amount.
- Approve it, and the conversion posts as two linked legs: a sale in one currency and a purchase in the other.
- Both legs carry the quote, so the statement still explains itself a year later.
What you can check
Facts about the running platform rather than adjectives. Each one is visible in the product, the API reference or the ledger.
- A conversion is two postings linked by one quote, never a single line with a new number in it.
- The margin travels into the ledger with the posting, so the cost of conversions is a figure that can be summed rather than an impression.
- Rates come from versioned provider snapshots, so the rate used at a moment can be produced again afterwards.
- A quote has an expiry, and an expired quote is re-quoted rather than applied.
What it costs
The margin, in basis points, shown on the quote before you approve it. There is no separate conversion fee hidden inside the rate.
Questions
Why does the statement show two lines for one conversion?
Because that is what a conversion is: money leaves one currency and arrives in another. Two linked legs keep both currencies’ books correct and keep the rate attached to the movement, so the line still explains itself later.
Can I see what rate I got last month?
Yes. The quote is kept with the posting, including the mid rate and the margin, and rate snapshots are versioned, so the rate in force at that moment can be produced again.
Is there a fee as well as the margin?
The margin on the quote is the cost. Where any separate fee applies it is shown on the same screen before you approve.
Read next
Remittance
A quoted rate that is locked for the life of the quote, with the margin stated in basis points — so the family at the other end gets the number you were shown, not whatever the rate became.
The ledger
A double-entry ledger where balances are derived from postings rather than stored, corrections are opposing entries rather than edits, and invariants are enforced at write time instead of checked by a nightly job.
Settlement and statements
A settlement statement that is numbered, hashed and reproducible, showing the provider fee, the platform fee and the tax on it as separate lines rather than one net figure.