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Reuters
Reuters is a truly massive website based around the Reuters news and media empire. They publish their own news and syndicate it to the world's media. As such there is a huge volume of news, analysis and tools based around finance.
The home page gives you a real insight into the focus of the site as a whole. You’ll notice the latest headlines being reeled out in short bursts at the top of the page, while the more in depth stories are linked to elsewhere. There is plenty to get your teeth into here.
Take me to the site! How do I get there?
If you want the home page you will need to go to www.reuters.com. But if you want the currency converter they offer, the page you want is http://www.reuters.com/finance/currencies. You’ll see it as soon as the page loads, even though it is quite small.
What does the site offer?
Currency is probably one of the smaller sections of Reuters. They have exceptionally large sections for ETFs and a gargantuan section for stocks and shares, but a very modest single main page for currency.
The page may be small but it is easy to find your way around and easy to use.
The middle-top of the page has a cross rate table for easy reference. It shows some of the major trading currencies' rates: USD, EUR, GBP, CAD, CHF, AUD, JPY and so on. Immediately below this is the currency calculator.
You can also find out about market news, business and industry news and plenty more besides. They also have a number of newsletters that you might want to subscribe to, alongside some RSS feeds that will keep you bang up to date with what is going on in the world. This site is nothing if not accessible.
What is their currency converter like?
It is very functional and simple to use. The top boxes are titled “convert”. Unusually this applies to both top boxes – each box does not have a separate name. It may sound a little confusing, but it is easy to follow when you see it.
The top left box is where you enter the amount. In this box you should put how much of any source currency you wish to change, so if you wanted to change 100 USD into something else, you would enter 100 into this box. Don't use currency symbols, such as $ - use the monetary amount only. The top right box is where you select the source currency type from a range of choices.
Reuters has a selection of 55 currencies to choose from. The currencies are listed with both their country name and their 3 letter international code. They are laid out in what may seem like an odd order, but there is a rhyme and reason to it.
First come some of the most heavily traded currencies – the ones in the cross rate table on top of the page. Then come the rest of the currencies. They are in alphabetical order, but not alphabetical based on their country names, as you might expect. They are alphabetical based on the 3 letter currency code of the country. So for example the South African Rand appears last, as its 3 letter code is ZAR.
The bottom 2 boxes are called “into”. Just leave the bottom left box blank, as it will contain the result of your currency conversion. The bottom right box has the same list of currency choices. This time you select which currency you would like to convert to. So for instance if you wanted to convert 100 USD to ZAR, this box is where you would select ZAR.
After you have made your choice, click on the button to the right that is labelled Go. The page reloads with the result displayed in the bottom left box. Underneath the currency calculator are a series of current headlines that are related to forex and the currency markets, so you can see reasons behind any recent shifts. It's simple and it does its job well.
Supposing I need some help and advice – can they help me with that?
Yes – as per usual you need to scroll right down to the bottom of any page. Once you’ve done that take a look at the left hand side and you will see a link that says ‘help and contact us’. That is all you need to know to be able to find pretty much anything you want.
All the most popular parts and features of the site are linked to from here. But the actual links are to FAQ pages that are relevant to that section – ideal if you are having problems with a particular feature.
Right at the bottom of that page you are asked to contact them if you still can’t find the answer to your question. And there are a number of links you can select, which then allow you to send a question direct to the appropriate department. This is done online.
In conclusion
Reuters has a lot to offer, and the fact that it is a well known name is a good thing. Everyone has heard of them and that makes their website well worth bookmarking, especially if you need currency news or a useful converter to try out.
You might expect the currency converter to be bigger than it actually is, and the whole of that section too, but it does serve the purpose and you know you get the latest data to evaluate as well. So this is one site that really does have plenty going for it.
Rating (out of five stars)
Reuters gets four out of five as a whole. We would also give its currency converter four out of five – it is quick and easy to use, and easy to reach with just one click to the currencies page from the home page itself. Compared with some sites that tuck theirs away a bit, that is a very good move.
- 4 Stars
Link: http://www.reuters.com/finance/currencies
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