What settling up late costs: two years of exchange rates, measured
Published October 13, 2026 by the developer of SplitWithUs (about)
The guide on which exchange rate to use says that converting every receipt at the settle-up day's rate shifts money between friends, and shows it with made-up numbers. This page replaces the made-up numbers with measured ones. SplitWithUs collects reference rates every day for the calculator, so we can look back and see how far they actually moved between the day something was paid and a later settle-up.
What was measured
- Period. September 23, 2024 to October 11, 2026: 749 days in a row, one rate per currency per day.
- Rates. The same reference rates the calculator uses, quoted against the US dollar: European Central Bank rates where the ECB publishes one, and an open market aggregate for the rest. Sources are listed on the methodology page. Days without a published rate use the last one before them, the rule the calculator applies to a Saturday receipt.
- Currencies. 12 currencies of common trip destinations, two that weakened in most windows over the period (the Turkish lira and the Argentine peso), and the UAE dirham, which is pegged to the dollar, as a baseline.
- The question. For every day in the period: if a receipt was paid that day and the group settled up 7, 30 or 90 days later at the settle-up day's rate, how much did the rate move in between? Each day is one window, so a currency has several hundred windows per delay.
"Typical" below is the median window: half moved less, half moved more. "1 in 10" is the move that one window in ten reached or passed.
One week, one month, three months
| Currency | 1 week | 1 month | 3 months | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| typical | 1 in 10 | typical | 1 in 10 | typical | 1 in 10 | |
| Euro EUR | 0.58% | 1.51% | 1.33% | 3.36% | 1.82% | 6.88% |
| British pound GBP | 0.58% | 1.47% | 1.33% | 2.84% | 1.33% | 6.17% |
| Japanese yen JPY | 0.65% | 2.08% | 1.53% | 3.77% | 2.55% | 5.72% |
| South Korean won KRW | 0.78% | 2.01% | 1.75% | 4.83% | 3.04% | 8.49% |
| Thai baht THB | 0.68% | 1.69% | 1.23% | 3.07% | 2.21% | 4.32% |
| Mexican peso MXN | 0.63% | 1.91% | 1.56% | 3.54% | 2.37% | 6.33% |
| Australian dollar AUD | 0.70% | 1.84% | 1.50% | 3.77% | 1.97% | 7.23% |
| Canadian dollar CAD | 0.47% | 1.12% | 1.13% | 2.61% | 1.69% | 4.31% |
| Swiss franc CHF | 0.63% | 1.56% | 1.41% | 3.23% | 2.32% | 8.16% |
| Indonesian rupiah IDR | 0.45% | 1.27% | 1.00% | 2.47% | 1.89% | 4.84% |
| Vietnamese dong VND | 0.16% | 0.63% | 0.34% | 1.46% | 0.83% | 2.08% |
| Egyptian pound EGP | 0.44% | 1.72% | 1.23% | 3.74% | 2.79% | 9.54% |
| Turkish lira TRY | 0.34% | 0.52% | 1.45% | 1.94% | 4.46% | 6.74% |
| Argentine peso ARS | 0.69% | 3.32% | 1.86% | 5.99% | 5.86% | 12.63% |
| UAE dirham AED | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% | 0.00% |
For the trip currencies other than the dong, a month's delay typically moved a receipt's value between 1.00% and 1.75%. The dong moved 0.34% in a typical month, and the dirham never moved more than 0.02%.
Who comes out behind
If the currency weakens between paying and settling up, each receipt is worth fewer dollars on the settle-up day, so the person who paid gets back less than the receipt was worth when it was paid. If it strengthens, they get back more and the rest of the group pays the difference. The table shows how often each currency weakened over a 30-day delay.
| Currency | Weakened | Strengthened |
|---|---|---|
| Euro EUR | 49.1% | 50.8% |
| British pound GBP | 47.0% | 53.0% |
| Japanese yen JPY | 56.2% | 43.8% |
| South Korean won KRW | 54.0% | 46.0% |
| Thai baht THB | 45.6% | 54.1% |
| Mexican peso MXN | 38.0% | 62.0% |
| Australian dollar AUD | 43.0% | 57.0% |
| Canadian dollar CAD | 55.5% | 44.2% |
| Swiss franc CHF | 53.4% | 46.6% |
| Indonesian rupiah IDR | 70.5% | 29.5% |
| Vietnamese dong VND | 55.5% | 44.5% |
| Egyptian pound EGP | 47.1% | 52.9% |
| Turkish lira TRY | 99.9% | 0.1% |
| Argentine peso ARS | 79.6% | 20.4% |
| UAE dirham AED | 5.3% | 6.0% |
For the euro, the yen, the won and the baht the direction was close to even, so the numbers show no side that a late settle-up reliably favoured. The lira weakened in 99.9% of windows and the peso in 79.6%: with currencies like these, settling late at the settle-up day's rate leaves whoever paid out of pocket in most windows. The dirham did not move at all in 88.7% of windows.
A short trip already spans more than one rate
Some groups skip the question by using one rate for the whole trip. That has a cost too. Over any 10 days in a row, this is how far apart the highest and the lowest daily rate were.
| Currency | Typical | 1 in 10 |
|---|---|---|
| Euro EUR | 1.05% | 2.14% |
| British pound GBP | 1.10% | 2.11% |
| Japanese yen JPY | 1.41% | 2.71% |
| South Korean won KRW | 1.56% | 2.72% |
| Thai baht THB | 1.23% | 2.37% |
| Mexican peso MXN | 1.41% | 3.03% |
| Australian dollar AUD | 1.39% | 2.39% |
| Canadian dollar CAD | 0.88% | 1.52% |
| Swiss franc CHF | 1.15% | 2.16% |
| Indonesian rupiah IDR | 0.95% | 1.71% |
| Vietnamese dong VND | 0.46% | 1.14% |
| Egyptian pound EGP | 0.84% | 2.32% |
| Turkish lira TRY | 0.45% | 0.70% |
| Argentine peso ARS | 1.51% | 5.23% |
| UAE dirham AED | 0.00% | 0.01% |
For the trip currencies other than the dong, the typical gap was between 0.84% and 1.56%. Whether that is worth caring about depends on the size of the receipts and the group.
What this means for your group
- Settling a week after the trip, the typical move was under one percent for every currency here.
- Settling a month or a season later, the moves above can add up to a noticeable amount for most of these currencies, and they land on whoever paid the most.
- Using the rate of the day each receipt was paid removes the delay from the answer. The result is the same whether you settle the next day or the next season. If the payer knows what their card charged, that figure replaces the rate for that receipt.
SplitWithUs converts each receipt at the reference rate of the day it was paid, and the guide on what to agree before a group trip covers settling the rate question before you leave.
Limits
- These are past moves over one period. They do not say what a currency will do next, and a different period gives different numbers.
- Reference rates are mid-market figures. Card networks and banks add their own margin and fees, which are not measured here.
- Everything is quoted against the US dollar. A group whose group currency is the euro or the pound would see different moves.
- This is about being fair within a group of friends. It is not financial advice.
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- What to agree before a group trip, so settling up stays friendly
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- How the numbers are worked out: every rule the calculator applies.
- Settle a trip with the calculator.