United States Dollar to South African Rand exchange rates aren't all the same.
The total cost you are charged by your bank or foreign exchange provider consists of a margin from the interbank mid-rate plus fees.
These margins and fees vary significantly for International Money Transfers and Travel Money transactions as shown below.
This resource page for the United States Dollar to South African Rand exchange rate, has news,
forecasts and
USD to ZAR comparison tables for
foreign transfers and
travel money
rates and fees on offer by banks and foreign exchange providers. You can also check an exchange rate margin with
our Exchange Rate Checker.
USD/ZAR Exchange Rates - How to Compare & Save
Exchange rates can vary significantly depending on the transaction type (transfer, cash or card), currency pair and amount. The below table shows an example of total costs charged by FX specialists and banks for USD/ZAR International Money Transfers. Costs are calculated against the current interbank mid-rate.
Example 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.
When determining the best time to make a foreign exchange transaction, in this case the USD vs ZAR, you should pay attention to the recent market trends for both currencies.
United States Dollar (USD)
The US dollar has held its value this year despite a serious escalation in US-China trade tensions, mainly because the greenback is still considered a safer currency to own than most others. After grim employment data on June-7, the Dollar Index was up 0.5 percent on the year (it had fallen 2 percent from May’s 2-year high).
As in other parts of the world, interest rate cuts are now expected in the US following a drastic shift in economic forecasts. At least two Fed cuts are expected this year, with the first most likely to come in July.
Taking the blame for the economic downturn is US President Donald Trump, whose trade policies have set a ball rolling that could wipe $455bn from global output according to the IMF.
2018 was a grim year for the rand: it lost 14 percent of its value against the US dollar and lost 10 percent against the euro.
Stability returned in the first 5 months of 2019, with no change against the dollar and a 2 percent gain versus the euro.
Talk in May was all about the election, which was again won by the ANC party, led by Cyril Ramaphosa. This spurred a relief rally in the rand, but a serious fall in support for the ANC since 2014 suggests Ramaphosa will struggle implementing much-needed economic reforms.
With the election out of the way, analysts at Deutsche Bank are expecting the rand to weaken throughout the rest of the year.
"We think [rand] optimism will prove short-lived as the market quickly refocuses on deteriorating fundamentals," Deutsche said.
Why can't I just get the USD/ZAR market rate I see online or in the media?
The mid-rate is the rate you will see quoted online or the news. It is actually just the half-way point (hence mid-rate) between
the last rate at which the USD / ZAR was traded (bought or sold) in the international markets.
All foreign exchange providers charge a fee for providing their service and this fee is usually contained within the exchange rate margin (or difference to the mid-rate).
Some providers such as Transferwise will quote you the mid-rate (or close to) and charge a separate percentage fee.
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.
