How to Compare Exchange Rates Between Two Dates
Updated: 2026-06-28
The Compare dates page answers one question: If I had exchanged the same amount on day A and day B, how would the ECB reference outcome differ?
Both dates stay in the past. You are not asking about today — you are measuring timing between two moments you already care about (two payroll runs, two invoice settlements, two weeks you could have wired money).
Use the home page instead when the question is my past trade vs right now.
When this page is the right tool
| Question | Use |
|---|---|
| March vs June — same $1,000, which reference day was better? | Compare dates |
| I exchanged last year — how does that look today? | Home |
| I want to save this transfer and revisit later | Home + My Exchanges |
Typical real prompts:
- I could have sent rent on the 1st or the 15th — how much did the reference move?
- Client paid the same USD invoice in March and April — why did EUR proceeds differ?
- Between two sends home, was the rate materially different before fees?
Compare dates shows reference movement only. It does not know your wire fee unless you analyse that separately.
Step-by-step in the app
- Open Compare dates (header or
/compare-dates). - Choose from / to currencies (e.g. USD → EUR).
- Enter amount in the source currency (e.g.
1000). - Set earlier date and later date (both ≤ today; earlier ≤ later).
- Tap Compare.
- Optional: Copy link to share the same parameters (
dateA,dateB,from,to,amount,compare=1).
There is no save button here by design — this is a controlled A/B snapshot, not a ledger entry.
Worked example: $1,000 USD → EUR, March vs June 2026
Run these inputs in the app to reproduce the numbers below (ECB references via Frankfurter).
Inputs
- From / to: USD → EUR
- Amount: 1,000
- Earlier date: 2026-03-02
- Later date: 2026-06-01
Reference rates
| Label | Calendar pick | Rate used (ECB date) | USD → EUR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Earlier | 2 Mar 2026 | 2 Mar 2026 | 0.8549 |
| Later | 1 Jun 2026 | 1 Jun 2026 | 0.8587 |
Implied euros at reference
- Earlier: 1,000 × 0.8549 = €854.85
- Later: 1,000 × 0.8587 = €858.66
Difference
- Absolute: +€3.81 (later date yields more at the reference)
- Percentage: about +0.45%
How to read that result
A +0.45% move is easy to overreact to. On $1,000 it is €3.81 at the benchmark — often less than a single wire fee. The comparison still matters for large or repeated flows: +0.45% on $50,000 is about €227 at reference, which may or may not beat a fee to delay payment.
The result card's wording tells you whether the later date would have produced more or less target currency at the reference. It does not tell you to move money again — only how the benchmark shifted between those picks.
Weekend pitfall
Choosing 7 June 2026 (a Saturday) does not fabricate a Sunday publish. The later side uses 5 June 2026 (0.8591). If you intended "first business day after that weekend," pick 8 June 2026 (Monday, 0.8666) and re-run. Always check which effective dates you are comparing.
After you compare
- Need help reading amounts and percentages? → How to Read Your FX Comparison Results
- Mixing bank receipts with references? → Log custom rates on the home page; keep Compare dates for pure A/B timing.
- Want narrative context (remittances, invoices)? → Exchange Timing and Rate Changes
Open Compare dates with the March / June 2026 example above once — you will know whether the tool matches the way you think about two past moments.
Try it in FX Comparison