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.
The Currency Conversion Fee Calculator estimates how much of your cross-border payment volume is lost to currency conversion each month. It combines two cost components: the FX markup, a percentage applied to your monthly cross-border volume, and the fixed fee per payment, multiplied by your number of payments. The result is your total monthly conversion cost, so the main drivers are your volume, the markup rate your provider charges above the mid-market rate, and how that volume is split into many small payments versus a few large ones.
The key trade-off to watch is markup versus fixed fees. On high volume, even a small percentage markup dominates, so shaving the FX rate matters most. On many low-value payments, the fixed per-payment fee can quietly exceed the markup, so batching transfers or choosing a flat-rate provider often costs less. Comparing both figures side by side shows which lever actually reduces your bill.
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.