What FX markups cost on cross-border payments.
Conversion margin hides inside the exchange rate, so a 1.5% markup on real volume costs far more than the per-payment fee you can see. Mid-market providers recover most of it. Pair with the payment fee calculator.
Free currency conversion fee calculator — monthly cross-border volume and FX markup to the money lost to conversion.
Most processors add a 1-2% markup over the mid-market exchange rate, plus sometimes a fixed fee per payment. On cross-border volume that markup dwarfs the visible per-transaction fee and rarely shows up as a separate line.
Settle in the currency you are paid in where possible, use providers that charge close to the mid-market rate, and batch conversions instead of converting every payment. The percentage markup is the real cost, so shrinking it matters most.