If you’re planning on buying something from an overseas online retailer, do it now!
The Australian dollar has peaked at a massive 110.5 US cents today, a post-float record for the currency. At the time of writing, one Australian dollar is buying 110.3 US cents.
In a single day, the Australian dollar has sharply risen from 108.9 US cents, as this graph from XE.com’s Universal Currency Converter demonstrates:
A quick scan of the data shows that the Australian dollar has also risen sharply against the other major currencies including the British Pound, Euro, Japanese Yen, Swiss Franc and New Zealand Dollar.
I have no idea what the cause of this sudden rise is, but I know it’s not good for Australia’s struggling export industries. Nevertheless, I am sure consumers will make the most of it whilst their spending power is so great.
“Do it now” – are you sure? Does the rate applied to credit cards reflect today’s exchange rate, or is there a day or two’s lag?
When I have done this in the past, the exchange rate at the time of the transaction has been the one used.
Having just checked my electronic bank statement and calculated my A$ payment back to the US$ catalogue price for my purchased item, I can see that I got an exchange rate of $1.10595 (it’s now $1.10482), not withstanding the 92c international transaction fee.
I cannot say whether all banks or credit cards operate similarly.