FX Rate Integrity Process

Gather your trade history

The first step is to determine the spreads your banks currently charge, in basis points. To do this, Blades International needs your historical transaction information: the debit and credit currency amounts, the date and time of each transaction, and the time zone applied by the bank. The time zone matters because bank records may reflect something other than the local time of the transaction. For example, many bank systems in the US are set to Eastern time or UTC regardless of local time.

Blades prefers six months of historical data, but we can work with less if collecting the data is an onerous task. This data should be readily available from your bank's records, but it is often difficult to persuade the bank to comply. We consider extreme reluctance on their part a red flag. The data should include all transactions, including the smaller ones done through a bank's treasury or cash management systems. Experience has shown that those deals are usually done at very high margins and may represent a substantial cost.

Review every trade against the market

Blades International reviews every transaction in relation to the interbank FX market at the time of the deal, using rates from Bloomberg, BestX and other leading market data services. We then provide a detailed report of the pricing matrices your banks applied. If your banks' spreads are fair for your volumes, we will say so, and there is no charge by Blades International.

Negotiate appropriate spreads

If your banks' spreads are too high, we will help you negotiate spreads that are appropriate to your volume. We will also provide suggestions on the most cost-effective means to achieve these reduced spreads.

Monitor and measure your savings

Once the reduced spreads are agreed and in force with your banks, Blades International will review your transactions monthly to determine the savings you have achieved. Our fee is a share of these proved savings during the following calendar year. You pay nothing unless Blades has achieved a cash saving for your company.