I just converted the US Dollar into Korean Won on five different sites. Why is there so much variation?
Are the world’s currencies so unstable? Is this a cash conversion rate, or bank rate comparisons? Different stabilities of different national currencies? I want to convert my Won here in South Korea before going back to the states at the best rates.
From my start on the first site until this posting has been about 15 minutes. Had I compared more, I’m sure there would have been more differences expedia is especially wide of any mark).
The following are the five sites and their results:
xe.com
2,000.00 US Dollars=2,233,800.05 KRW
1.00 USD=1,116.90 KRW
gocurrency.com
2000 US Dollars = 2,222,200 South Korean Won(s)
1 USD = 1111.1 KRW
x-rates.com
2000 US Dollars = 2,236,260 South Korean Won(s)
1 US Dollars = 1118.13 KRW
forexpros.com
2000 USD = 2,230,000.00 KRW
1 USD = 1115.00 KRW
expedia.co.kr
2,000.00 US dollars = 2,252,529 South Korean won
Exchange rate: 1USD = 1,126.26
They really can be that volatile, exchange rate often change by up to 1% in a day even between currency that have heavy volume like the $ and the euro.
You will not get the bank rate if you are exchanging a small amount of money, there will be a service charge that will vary depending how you do it. When going from $ to another currency ATM or charge cards usually give you the best rates when used inthe foreign country drawn on US banks. They charge a significantly less than A bank in the US does for changing $ into another currency.
I think that it is because the transactions are only electronic and does not involve the handling of actual currency.
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=USDKRW=X#chart4:symbol=usdkrw=x;range=5d;indicator=volume;charttype=line;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=on;source=undefined
