Currency exchange comparison

Our team looked at the cost of exchanging currencies with 4 popular banks in Australia (Westpac, NAB, ANZ, and Commbank) using their 'standard-equivalent' account offering (the one most comparable to our Standard account).

We found that using Revolut to exchange money is up to 10 times cheaper on average. We tested this with a sample exchange of AUD 1,000 to 4 other currencies.

The data for the research was collected between Monday 30 March 2026 and Friday 3 April 2026. To do this, we used various data sources including the currency exchange rates and currency exchange calculators available publicly on these banks' websites.

We calculated the 'cost to exchange' AUD 1,000 to EUR, GBP, USD, and NZD using each of the other providers. The 'cost to exchange' includes any taxes, fees, or commissions applied by the provider, in addition to what we'll call their 'currency exchange markup'.

The 'currency exchange markup' is the amount added to the mid-market rate by each provider when completing an exchange.

Ideally, a buyer would exchange money at the mid-market rate, which is the midpoint between the buy and sell prices of any 2 currencies. This is the best scenario because providers usually have different buy and sell prices, and the further they are from the mid-market rate, the less money the buyer gets from the exchange.

We then compared the average of the other providers’ 'cost to exchange' AUD 1,000 to EUR, GBP, USD, and NZD with our own. When you exchange with us, we use a variable exchange rate, and you may be charged a percentage-based exchange fee if you exchange outside our ‘market hours’.¹

This data was collected within our 'market hours' on weekdays between Monday 30 March 2026 and Friday 3 April 2026. That means the data we’ve used is based on exchanges not incurring an exchange fee (assuming the customer is within their fair usage limit). You can read more about our Standard plan (and our other plans) in our Personal Terms and on our Fees Page.

On average Revolut was 23 times cheaper when exchanging AUD 1,000 to EUR, GBP, USD, and NZD on weekdays. By quoting ‘up to 10 times cheaper’, we can be confident that this remains true, even when rates fluctuate.

Revolut’s average cost to exchange was AUD 1.87, whereas the average cost to exchange at popular banks in Australia was AUD 36.32 when exchanging AUD 1,000 to EUR, GBP, USD, and NZD on weekdays.