frequent questions
glossary
What is a basic bank account?
Access to the credit intermediary activity
List of authorised credit intermediaries
How to protect yourself from online fraud?
Know your rights when making payments in Europe.
Do you know what the gross domestic product is? What about inflation? (only in Portuguese)
Key tips to protect yourself when choosing online or mobile banking services.
In Portugal, currency can be exchanged at banks and exchange offices registered with Banco de Portugal.
The currency exchange service is free, meaning the institutions are not required to exchange foreign currency.
The exchange rates to be applied are freely set by the entities authorised to carry out the currency exchange activity. These entities must advertise their purchase and sale prices.
Fees charged to customers by the currency exchange are also freely set and must be included in the institutions’ price lists. In cases where fees are not charged for the currency exchange, these costs may be implicit in the exchange rates set by the institution.
Banco de Portugal does not exchange foreign currency.
The exchange rates published by Banco de Portugal are benchmark exchange rates defined by the European Central Bank (with the exception of the exchange rates of the Macao pataca and the Cape Verde escudo, which are defined by Banco de Portugal).
Benchmark exchange rates are only informative and do not distinguish between buying and selling prices.
Banco de Portugal’s website – Authorised institutions
Banco de Portugal’s website – Exchange rate
Banco de Portugal’s website – Currency converter
Banco de Portugal’s website – Exchange banknotes in escudos
Exchange rates – What they are
Exchange rates – Bid – offer ‘spread’
Services – Price lists