Exchange rates, gold, transfer fees and the arithmetic behind them. Every figure traces to the institution that publishes it, and the tools are free to use.
Google, the ECB and our own converter all show the mid-market rate. The ECB says in writing that its rates are not for transactions. The gap between that number and the one on your receipt is the price of the transfer.
The headline gold price is one troy ounce of pure gold in a London vault, set twice a day. Turning it into the price of a 22-carat bracelet takes one division and one multiplication, and both numbers are published.
The World Bank prices 367 remittance corridors every quarter. The spread between the cheapest way to send money and the most expensive is more than three to one, and almost all of it is decided by which counter you walk up to.
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