British Pound Sterling to United States Dollar - Convert Compare Save
The total cost you are charged by your foreign exchange provider consists of the margin from the mid-rate offered plus any fixed or percentage fees.
These margins and fees vary significantly for International Money Transfers and Travel Money transactions as shown below.
Compare GBP/USD Exchange Rates
The below table is a snapshot of the costs charged by FX specialists and banks for GBP/USD International Money Transfers. Costs are calculated against the amount when GBP is converted to USD at mid-rate.
Sending a LARGER foreign transfer? Request a Multi-Vendor Quote ▾
OFX exchange rates are highly competitive for global money transfers, great customer service. ^Zero transfer fees for BestExchangeRates customers. More info▾
6,413 USD
6.5 USD
1.2826
£0^
1.29%
Bank Transfers - Online & Phone, Foreign Currency Accounts
The below table shows a snapshot of the margins and possible savings when you order travel money online with a currency specialist rather than in-person from banks and currency kiosks.
Sending a LARGER foreign transfer? Request a Multi-Vendor Quote ▾
Right now the GBP/USD interbank exchange rate is 1.2993.
It’s also called the mid-market rate or just the mid-rate and is the rate that banks use when trading large amounts of foreign currencies with one another.
It's the reference rate we use to calculate how much you are being charged to convert United States Dollar to British Pound Sterling.
This GBP/USD Converter calculates equivalent British Pound Sterling to United States Dollar amounts at the market mid-rate.
You can also enter your own rates to find out the percentage difference to the latest market rates you are being charged.
British Pound Sterling to United States Dollar (GBP-USD) - 10 Year History
The below table shows the historic variation in the GBP/USD exchange rate over the last 10 years.
The percentage change is the difference from the date shown to present. This lets you decide if the current rate is in your favour.
You can also view our various charts of GBP versus other currencies : GBP historical charts.
Date
Exchange Rate
Period
Change
18 Apr 2019
1.3002
Latest
11 Apr 2019
1.3055
1 Week
-0.41%
19 Mar 2019
1.3270
1 Month
-2.02%
20 Oct 2018
1.3072
6 Months
-0.54%
18 Apr 2018
1.4202
1 Year
-8.45%
18 Apr 2017
1.2843
2 Years
+1.24%
19 Apr 2014
1.6792
5 Years
-22.57%
20 Apr 2009
1.4551
10 Years
-10.65%
Why can't I just get the GBP/USD market rate I see on Google or in the Media?
The GBP/USD mid-rate is the rate you will see
Quoted on Google
or the News, nobody except the largest banks and businesses can get exchange rates close to this mid-rate. It is actually just the theoretical half-way point (hence mid-rate) between
the last rate at which the GBP / USD was traded (bought or sold) in the international markets.
Getting a good market rate is mainly about timing however the transaction margin
you end up being charged can be considerably reduced by around a few percent (of total amount being exchanged) for
travel money and possibly over 5% to 6% when sending money.
The exact potential savings depends on the currencies being exchanged and the amount
you are transferring and if you are willing to shop around.
The closer your final exchange rate is to the market GBP/USD midrate the better deal you are getting.
The three things you need in order to get a good GBP to USD exchange rate
Know the latest GBP/USD market mid-rate.
The closer your final exchange rate is to this real market rate the better deal you are getting.
You should also judge how the current rate compares to the historic rate over the past 10 years.
Compare your Bank's transaction costs
to several
licensed FX providers, remember to compare the exchange rate margins as well as the various types of fees.
We make that easy to do with our calculators for
Foreign Transfers
and
Travel Money
transactions.
Currency news and forecasts for British Pound Sterling and United States Dollar
Whenever you are researching a particular exchange rate you are actually interested in two currencies as the value of a currency must always be quoted relative to a second currency.
So it follows that if you are determining the best time to transact, in this case the GBP vs USD, you should pay attention to both British Pound Sterling and United States Dollar news and forecasts.
British Pound Sterling (GBP) - Market news and forecasts
Update 14-April: The pound hovered between US$1.30 and US$1.31 (in line with 3-month averages) after the EU granted the UK a Brexit extension until the end of October. No-deal risk is gone for now and anything is possible, including a new British prime minister, a general election and/or second referendum.
Experts at MUFG said in April that sterling would likely trade between US$1.30 and US$1.34 until more clarity emerged.
If an election is called, the pound could depreciate to US$1.24, a UBS analyst said, due to “heightened uncertainty” (the opposition Labour party is consistently ahead in the polls).
Goldman Sachs said in April that sterling was set for a “big finish” (higher) once the gridlock in the UK parliament ends and a deal is agreed and certainty found.
Earlier this year, currency analysts at HSBC estimated that the pound would be valued at levels near US$1.10 in the event of no-deal, near US$1.45 with a deal and at US$1.55 if Brexit is cancelled.
United States Dollar (USD) - Market news and forecasts
In the third week of April the Dollar Index was rallying strongly towards the mid-97s, slightly below major resistance at 97.70, a break of which would be massively positive for the greenback. The index was up 1.7 percent year-to-date.
The dollar’s strength comes in spite of a dovish surprise in March from the Federal Reserve, which ditched two interest rate hikes from its 2019 projections. Fortunately for dollar holders, the rest of the world has problems and other important central banks also turned dovish, removing much of the incentive for selling USD.
Bloomberg research warned in April of potential for a large upcoming move in the US dollar, up or down. Over the past quarter-century, three prominent troughs in the JPMorgan Global FX Volatility Index were followed by dollar moves over 6-month periods worth 10-15 percent. The index was trading in mid-April at a 5-year low.
United States
East Timor
Ecuador
El Salvador
British Virgin Islands
US Virgin Islands
Caribbean Netherlands
Turks And Caicos Islands
Zimbabwe