Currencies & Exchange Rates
Recording expenses in foreign currencies, automatic exchange rate download, and which currencies are supported
Which currencies does My Cars support?
You can pick from 160+ world currencies as your default currency (Menu > Settings > Units > Currency), and record any expense — refuel, service, bill, or trip — in a different currency when you pay abroad.
How does paying in a foreign currency work?
When an entry’s currency differs from your default, an Exchange Rate section appears on the entry:
- Forward calculation: enter the exchange rate → the cost in your default currency is calculated
- Reverse calculation: enter the cost in your default currency → the exchange rate is calculated
Example: you paid 100 in a foreign currency and the rate is 1.2, so the cost in your currency is 120. Your totals and charts always use your default currency, so statistics stay consistent.
Can My Cars download exchange rates automatically? (PRO)
Yes. Automatic exchange rates are a PRO feature. With PRO and the download mode set to automatic, My Cars fetches the rate for the entry’s date — tap Fetch rate on the entry, or let the app fill it in. Without PRO (or in manual mode), you enter rates yourself.
Set the mode in Menu > Settings under Exchange Rate Download Mode.
Which currencies have downloadable rates?
Downloaded rates are based on the European Central Bank (ECB) daily reference rates, updated once per banking day. The ECB publishes rates for the euro against about 30 currencies, including:
USD, GBP, CHF, JPY, AUD, BGN, BRL, CAD, CNY, CZK, DKK, HKD, HUF, IDR, ILS, INR, ISK, KRW, MXN, MYR, NOK, NZD, PHP, PLN, RON, SEK, SGD, THB, TRY and ZAR.
Any pair of these works — rates between two non-euro currencies (say USD → CHF) are computed as cross-rates via the euro. For dates without a published rate (weekends, holidays), the app falls back to the most recent rate up to 7 days back.
For currencies outside the ECB list, no download is available — enter the rate manually.
What is the Exchange Rate Spread?
Banks and card issuers rarely give you the official reference rate — they add a margin. The Exchange Rate Spread setting (Menu > Settings) lets you add that margin in percent so converted amounts match what you actually paid: expenses are converted at the rate plus the spread, refunds and income at the rate minus the spread.
How do I update rates on existing records?
Use Update All Rates in Menu > Settings:
- Fill missing only — adds rates to foreign-currency records that don’t have one yet; existing values are untouched
- Overwrite all rates — replaces the rate on every foreign-currency record, including rates you entered by hand. This cannot be undone, so the app asks for confirmation first
After the update, a summary shows how many records were filled, skipped, or had no rate available.