BACS |
Money transfer service from an automated clearing house providing predominantly retail payment services that include direct debit, standing order and direct credit (e.g. salary payments). |
Bankers Draft |
This is a cheque drawn on the bank (or building society) itself against a cash deposit. A 'bankers draft' is thought of as being a secure way of receiving money from someone you don't know where you fear his/her cheques bounce (may not be honoured) and where it's not convenient or desirable to receive cash. 'Bankers drafts' are commonly used for large purchases such as homes and cars. |
Bid |
The price that a buyer is prepared to purchase at; the price offered for a currency. |
Bid/Ask Spread |
The difference between the bid and offer (ask) prices; used to measure market liquidity. Narrower spreads usually signify high liquidity. |
Broker |
An agent who handles investors' orders to buy and sell currency. For this service, a commission is charged which, depending upon the broker and the amount of the transaction, may or may not be negotiated. |
Bull |
Someone who believes the prices/market will rise. |
Call Rate |
The overnight interbank interest rate. |
Cash Market |
The market for the purchase and sale of physical currencies. |
CHAPS |
A real time funds clearing system used by over 400 financial institutions in Europe alone to process payments. |
Client Trust Account |
A segregated bank account which ensures that client funds are in no way commingled company funds. |
Convertible Currency |
Currency which can be freely exchanged for other currencies or gold without special authorisation from the appropriate central bank. |
Counter party |
The customer or bank with whom a foreign deal is made. The term is also used in interest and currency swaps markets to refer to a participant in a swap exchange. |
Cross Rate |
An exchange rate between two currencies, usually constructed from the individual exchange rates of the two currencies, measured against the United States dollar. |
Currency Option |
Option contract which gives the right to buy or sell a currency with another currency at a specified exchange rate during a specified period. |
Currency Risk |
The risk of incurring losses resulting from an adverse change in exchange rates. |
Currency Swap |
Contract which commits two counter-parties to exchange streams of interest payments in different currencies for an agreed period of time and to exchange principal amounts in different currencies at a pre-agreed exchange rate at maturity. |
Day Trading |
Refers to opening and closing the same position(s) within one day’s trading. |
Dollar Rate |
When a variable amount of foreign currency is quoted against one US Dollar, regardless of where the dealer is located or in what currency he/she is requesting a quote. The exception is the Sterling/US Dollar rate (cable) that is quoted as variable amount of US Dollars to one pound Sterling. |
Exchange Rate |
The rate at which one currency is exchanged for another e.g. if £100,000 = US$180,000 the exchange rate is 1.80 “Exchange Rate” is frequently abbreviated to simply “rate”. |
Exchange Rate Risk |
See Currency Risk. |
Federal Reserve (Fed) |
The Central Bank of the United States. |
Fixed Exchange Rate |
Official rate set by monetary authorities for one or more currencies. In practice, even fixed exchange rates are allowed to fluctuate between definite upper and lower bands, leading to intervention. |
Floating Exchange Rate |
When the value of currency is determined by supply and demand. |
Foreign Exchange (or Forex or FX) |
The simultaneous buying of one currency and selling of another in an over-the-counter market. Most major FX is quoted against the US Dollar. |
Foreign Exchange Swap |
Transaction which involves the actual exchange of two currencies (principal amount only) on a specific date at a rate agreed at the time of the conclusion of the contract (short leg), at a date further in the future at a rate agreed at the time of the contract (the long leg). |
Forward |
A deal that will commence at an agreed date in the future. Forward trades in FX are usually expressed as a margin above (premium) or below (discount) the spot rate. To obtain the actual forward FX price, one adds the margin to the spot rate. The rate will reflect what the FX rate has to be at the forward date so that if funds were re-exchanged at that rate there would be no profit or loss (i.e. a neutral trade). The rate is calculated from the relevant deposit rates in the 2 underlying currencies and the spot FX rate. Unlike in the futures market, forward trading can be customized according to the needs of the two parties and involves more flexibility. Also, there is no centralized exchange. |
Forward Points |
The interest rate differential between two currencies expressed in exchange rate points. The forward points are added to or subtracted from the spot rate to give the forward rate. |
Forward Rate |
The rate at which a foreign exchange contract is struck today for settlement at a specified date between 2 days and 12 months into the future. |
GTC |
An abbreviation for Good Till Cancelled that is an order left with a dealer to buy or sell at a fixed rate. The order remains in place until it is cancelled by the customer. |
Hedging |
The practice of undertaking one investment activity in order to protect against loss in another, e.g. selling short to nullify a previous purchase, or buying long to offset a previous short sale. While hedges reduce potential losses, they also tend to reduce potential profits. |
High/Low |
Usually the highest traded price and the lowest traded price for the underlying instrument for the current trading day. |
Initial Margin |
The required initial deposit of collateral to enter into a position as a guarantee on future performance. |
Interbank Rates |
The Foreign Exchange rates at which large international banks quote other large international banks. |
Limit Order |
An order given which has restrictions upon its execution, where the customer may specify a price and the order can be executed only if the market reaches that price. |
Long Position |
A market position where the Client has bought a currency he previously did not hold own. Normally expressed in base currency terms, e.g., long Dollars (short Euros). |
Margin |
Margin is a deposit provided by the customer as collateral to cover losses (if any) that may result from the customer’s foreign exchange trades. |
Margin Call |
A demand for additional funds, a requirement which is made by the trading bank to bring a margin up to a required minimum level to cover any adverse movement in price in the market. |
Market Maker |
A dealer who supplies prices and is prepared to buy or sell at those stated bid and ask prices. A market maker runs a trading book. |
Market Rate |
The rate at which any two currencies are being quoted against each other in the London Interbank Foreign Exchange Market. |
Maturity |
Date of Settlement of Contract. |
Off Market |
An exchange rate which is not at the current market rate. Examples would be those quoted by high street banks and smaller companies in the foreign exchange market which either don’t have access to, or choose not to quote, market rates. |
Offer |
The rate at which a dealer is willing to sell the base currency. |
Open Position |
Any deal which has not been settled by physical payment or reversed by an equal and opposite deal for the same value date. |
Pip (or Points) |
The term used in currency market to represent the smallest incremental move an exchange rate can make. Depending on context, normally one basis point (0.0001 in the case of EUR/USD, GBD/USD, USD/CHF and .01 in the case of USD/JPY). |
Premium |
More expensive than the spot price e.g. Forward premium. |
Settlement |
Actual physical exchange of one currency for another. |
Short |
To go `short` is to have sold an instrument without actually owning it, and to hold a short position with expectations that the price will decline so it can be bought back in the future at a profit. |
Spot |
Spot means the settlement date of a deal which is two clear business days forward. |
Spread |
The difference between the bid and offer (ask) prices; used to measure market liquidity. Narrower spreads usually signify high liquidity. |
Stop Loss Order |
An order to buy or sell currency, at a particular price if it is reached either above or below the price that given was given at that time. Used to limit or prevent i.e. “stop” a loss before rates can move further against the client. |
SWIFT |
(financial) Industry owned cooperative supplying secure, standardised messaging services to over 7,500 financial institutions in over |
Value Date |
Settlement date of a spot or forward deal. |
Variation Margin |
Funds required to be deposited by a Customer when a price movement has caused funds to fall below the minimum margin requirement. Conversely, funds may be withdrawn by a Customer when a price movement has caused funds to rise above the minimum margin requirement. |
Volatility |
A statistical measure of a market or a security's price movements over time and is calculated by using standard deviation. Associated with high volatility is a high degree of risk. |
International currency exchange
Glossary of financial jargon
Services
-
U.S. Taxes for American Expats
Are you an American expatriate living outside the U.S. and already paying tax in a foreign country? Or a digital nomad moving from place to place, rarely staying in one place for long? Are you maybe subject to a lifetime of taxation, you never knew about? More
-
The first bank you’ll love
One of the first things on your to-do list when moving to the UK will be to open a bank account. N26 allows you to open your account online in under 8 minutes. More
-
Transfer money to and from the UK
Xe offers international money transfers with bank-beating exchange rates. Their service is ideal to make global payments, send funds to your family, buy foreign real estate and much more. More
This handy reference to the terms used for currency exchange transactions. The world of finance can be quite complicated, so use the below as a guide to some of the terms you may bump into when organizing currency exchanges or transfers.
By Just Landed
Services
-
U.S. Taxes for American Expats
Are you an American expatriate living outside the U.S. and already paying tax in a foreign country? Or a digital nomad moving from place to place, rarely staying in one place for long? Are you maybe subject to a lifetime of taxation, you never knew about? More
-
The first bank you’ll love
One of the first things on your to-do list when moving to the UK will be to open a bank account. N26 allows you to open your account online in under 8 minutes. More
-
Transfer money to and from the UK
Xe offers international money transfers with bank-beating exchange rates. Their service is ideal to make global payments, send funds to your family, buy foreign real estate and much more. More
Further reading
- Banking in the UK: Opening an account
- Managing your money while studying in the UK: Tips for international students
- Services: Banking services, cash machines and opening hours
- Currency exchange: A beginner’s guide to moving money abroad
Does this article help?
Do you have any comments, updates or questions on this topic? Ask them here: