AED Currency Converter
Live AED exchange rates plus a realistic remittance estimate including the typical bank or exchange-house margin.
Mid-market rates · Live data · Updated 2 Jun 2026
How to use
- 1
Pick which currency you're starting from. Most UAE residents send money home, so they'd pick AED as the 'from' currency.
- 2
Pick which currency you want the total in. Indian rupees, Pakistani rupees, Philippine pesos, dollars, pounds — whichever you actually need.
- 3
Type in the amount. You can use this to convert your monthly remittance, your end-of-service gratuity, or just compare salaries.
- 4
Adjust the margin slider to estimate the real cost. UAE Exchange and Al Ansari typically charge 1–2% above the mid-market rate. Banks like Emirates NBD and FAB charge 2–4%. Western Union and MoneyGram can add 3–5% on small transfers. Setting the slider to 2% gives a realistic remittance figure.
- 5
The result shows both the mid-market value (what news headlines quote) and the effective amount you'd actually receive after the margin. The difference is how much your remittance provider keeps as profit.
Frequently asked questions
The mid-market rate is the average of what buyers will pay and what sellers will accept on the global currency market. It's the rate Google, Bloomberg, and the BBC quote. Banks and exchange houses always charge slightly more — that gap is how they make money on remittances. Your real cost is mid-market plus their margin.
For popular corridors (AED to INR, PKR, PHP, EGP) the typical margin is 0.5–2% above mid-market, plus a flat fee of AED 15–25 per transfer. Less popular currencies and smaller amounts attract higher margins. UAE Exchange, Al Ansari, LuLu Exchange, and Wall Street Exchange are usually within 1% of each other on major corridors.
For small transfers, almost always yes. Banks typically charge 2–4% above mid-market plus AED 25–75 in fees. Emirates NBD's DirectRemit and FAB's Mobile Wallet have improved this for select corridors (free or near-free to India and the Philippines), but the standard SWIFT transfer remains expensive for everyone.
Currency markets trade around the clock. Supply and demand for each pair shifts based on interest-rate differences, oil prices, central-bank announcements, and trade flows. The AED is pegged to the US dollar at a fixed rate (1 USD = 3.6725 AED) so it moves very little against the dollar — but AED to other currencies moves whenever USD moves against those currencies.
The UAE Dirham has been formally pegged to the US dollar at 1 USD = 3.6725 AED since November 1997. The peg has held without revision since. That's why AED-USD on this calculator looks almost flat over time — it doesn't really move. AED to any other currency, however, moves whenever USD moves against that currency.
Mid-market rates move 24/7 in tiny increments, but UAE exchange houses typically update their displayed rates once or twice a day. Late afternoon (after the European market close) tends to have slightly better rates because that's when London and New York traders compete. The difference is usually under 0.5% — not worth waiting for unless you're sending a very large amount.
For most corridors, yes. Wise (formerly TransferWise), Remitly, and similar apps charge 0.4–0.6% on AED transfers and use the mid-market rate. They're typically 30–60% cheaper than walking into an exchange house. The trade-off: you need a UAE bank account, KYC verification, and the transfer takes 1–3 business days vs. minutes at a counter.
The live rate refreshes once every 24 hours. If the live data feed is temporarily unavailable, the calculator falls back to rates from June 2026 and shows a warning. For real-time rates (e.g. trading), use a dedicated currency platform — this calculator is built for planning, budgeting, and remittance estimates.
Related tools
Source: ExchangeRate-API (open.er-api.com) — daily mid-market rates · Last verified 2026-06. Powered by ExchangeRate-API. This tool provides estimates only and is not legal, tax or financial advice. Always verify your specific situation with the relevant UAE authority or a licensed advisor before taking action.