How is the exchange rate calculated?

Every Kangaroo Service exchange rate is built from two pieces:

1. The mid-market rate — the wholesale rate that banks and large institutions use when they trade currency with each other. It's the same rate you see if you search for "AUD to IDR" on Google or look at most financial news sites. Mid-market rates move constantly through the day.
2. A small margin added on top, which is how we cover our costs of running the service.

We don't add hidden bank fees or surprise spreads on top of that — what the rate calculator shows is the rate you get if you confirm the transfer within the quote window. There's no second markup at confirmation, and no rate change between the moment we quote you and the moment you fund.

Rate locking

When you accept a quote, the exchange rate is locked for the lifetime of that quote. If you fund within the window, that's the rate that converts your money. If the quote expires before funding arrives, the transfer auto-cancels and you'll need to create a fresh quote at the current rate — see Can I cancel a transfer? for what happens to your funds in that case.

Where to see the rate

The rate calculator on every page of kangaroo-service.com shows the live rate for your corridor and the exact destination amount the recipient will receive. There are no calculations hidden behind a sign-up wall — the rate you see before signing up is the rate you'd transact at.

For more on how the margin sits next to the mid-market rate, see Why is your rate different from Google's mid-market rate?.