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Bloomberg
Bloomberg is one of the biggest players when it comes to publishing financial information and related world news items on the internet. Unlike Yahoo!, for example, that has its fingers in as many pies as it can think of, Bloomberg focuses solely on financial markets and finance in general.
Bloomberg is a massive player offline too though. There are Bloomberg TV channels, radio programmes and print magazines all in evidence as well. With such a high “pedigree” the level of services the website offers for currency conversion and trading is exceptional. You can see therefore that it is worth a much closer look.
Take me to the site! How do I get there?
That’s very easy indeed – simply surf along to www.bloomberg.com and you’ll find your way to the currency section via the market data heading near the top of the site.
What does the site offer?
Bloomberg has a wealth of information stuffed into its website, but it doesn’t drop the ball when it comes to the task of organising it all so it is easy to find. The home page has breaking news headlines appearing in eye catching orange type, and indeed given the black background of the site itself you certainly don’t miss out on much at all.
You’ll see plenty of facts and figures along the right hand side of the home page too, giving more credence to the fact that we’re talking about a site that focuses in on money and all the different aspects of it.
Both the news and the market data sections are comprehensively put together; no matter what you are looking for in this area you’re certain to find it. It is often segregated to appeal to the Americas, Asia and Europe respectively too, making it easier to search on the whole.
What is their currency converter like?
Currency conversion is not the only calculation it is possible to do using the Bloomberg site. The calculators’ page lists more than thirty separate calculators that allow visitors to calculate everything from tax to stock options.
The currency calculator itself however is very easy to use. The page is relatively uncluttered and neatly presented, with a nice big area taken up by the calculator itself. Plenty of other sites have all kinds of bells and whistles and flashy advertising to distract you, but not this one. It's still there, it's just less intrusive.
The calculator has more than two hundred currencies and metals to choose from. Under the title “convert” there is a drop-down list of currencies, from which you need to select the one you are looking for.
Each currency is listed with its country name and the three letter international currency code too for easier identification. If you want to convert a specific amount you should enter that number in the box titled “amount”. This means that if you wish to convert $267 USD into something else, this box is where you should type in 267. Don’t enter a currency symbol into the amount box as this will confuse the data you get in return.
Next you should choose the destination currency by selecting one of the currencies from the drop down list labelled “into”. The currencies here match the currencies in the other drop-down list, for ease of reference.
Finally you simply need to click on the “calculate” button to see the result. It is displayed just at the bottom of the calculator on the same page. Make sure you scroll down slightly to see it because the page doesn’t refresh. You might be left waiting unnecessarily to see the result otherwise!
It appears in this format - 268 US Dollars (USD) = XX Thai Baht (THB), for example. The inverse rate is not listed and the actual exchange rate used to calculate the result is not displayed either. So if you just need the conversion and you don’t want anything else with it, this is the best place to go. Obviously if you do want to see the exchange rates, just do the same calculation with 1 in the “amount” box.
Supposing I need some help and advice – can they help me with that?
Certainly they can. The place you need to head for, as always, is the bottom of the page – any page at that. Look for the ‘help’ link that appears in the fetching orange type! This opens up a huge selection of frequently asked questions, which they have helpfully categorised to make it easier to locate the answers you are looking for.
Another worthwhile place to go is the site map, as this will help you navigate smoothly round the site to find whatever you are after in particular.
Finally there is a feedback link, which takes you through to an online feedback form which may be useful in certain situations. They say they will respond within 24 hours (except for at weekends of course), so they clearly like to stay on top of this and give you all the help you need.
You would expect a big name site like Bloomberg to deliver the goods when it comes to helping its visitors, and that is clearly what it sets out to do.
In conclusion
Overall Bloomberg has a lot going for it for anyone wishing to find useful currency conversion features. The converter itself is beyond simple so if you just want to know how much holiday cash you are going to get for your money, you’ll love this site.
Rating (out of five stars)
This site gets four out of five stars from us. We like the currency converter a lot, although we feel it would be better still if the conversion rate were also included on the page.
That is a relatively minor quibble on what is a great site overall though, and there is plenty of financial and monetary information and news here to get your teeth into. So it’s four well deserved stars out of five.
- 4 Stars
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/invest/calculators/currency.html
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