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.

AllRatesToday 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.

AllRatesToday 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.