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Request for Quote

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In some scenarios it is necessary to know the exchange rate ahead of executing a transaction. The Request For Quote (RFQ) workflow enables you to fetch a firm (tradable) foreign exchange quote that is valid for 30 seconds at a time for any of our supported value dates (today, tomorrow, and SPOT). In principle, this is exactly the rate that you would have executed on if you had submitted a trade in market order fashion at the same time.

The quote contains both an expiration timestamp as well as an id that can be attached as a part of an BCFX order. This will guarantee that the order will be completed at this exchange rate.

Each transaction will be settled on your currency accounts immediately following confirmation, provided the original request was for today's value date and you are not utilizing a trading/credit line. Transactions with a value date in the future, such as tomorrow (TN) or SPOT, will not be settled until the value date arrives and the account has sufficient funding.

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Multiple legal entities?

If you have multiple legal entities or a company structure that requires the use of multiple companies in BC Connect context, you should additionally specify the (optional) customerId field in the order to ensure the trade lands on correct bank accounts.

Just like with trades submitted as market orders, settlement with value date today is not possible during a bank holiday in either currency, in which case only value date tomorrow and SPOT are available.

To request a quote for trading, you only need to supply the two currencies involved, the trade amount, the desired tenor, and indicate the currency of the amount.

Below is an example GET request for retrieving a quote to be used for trading 10,000 EUR against GBP with value today (use TN for value date tomorrow, or SPOT):

// Add the optional request parameter &customerId=<your-customer-id> if you have multiple legal entities  
The API will then respond with a firm quote featuring a quote ID and the expiry time.
Note, outside our opening hours, you'll receive an indicative quote instead, which cannot be used for trading.
{  
  "quoteType": "Tradable",  
  "currencyPair": "EURGBP",  
  "exchangeRateBid": 0.848001,  
  "exchangeRateAsk": 0.8491892,  
  "expiryTime": "2021-10-08T13:55:17.4276206+00:00",  
  "quoteId": "bf56e3bc-269a-4db5-be4d-71ccf789d5ab"  
}

If you would like to request a quote using a currency pair in your desired convention (for example, GBP/EUR instead of EUR/GBP), you should instead use our v2 endpoint:

// Add the optional request parameter &customerId=<your-customer-id> if you have multiple legal entities
// The API will then respond with a firm quote featuring a quote ID and the expiry time.
// Note, outside our opening hours, you'll receive an indicative quote instead, which cannot be used for trading.
{  
  "quoteType": "Tradable",  
  "currencyPair": "GBPEUR",  
  "exchangeRateBid": 1.1775939,  
  "exchangeRateAsk": 1.1792439,  
  "expiryTime": "2024-02-13T13:55:17.4276206+00:00",  
  "quoteId": "15ce0f73-dfcd-40bf-82b8-53c1d0a2d40b"  
}

You can then use either quote to execute a BC Connect FX order using a POST request - in this example we are buying 10,000 EUR (do not submit a tenor field in the RFQ workflow as it is derived from your quote):

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Tradable quote types

Only 'Tradable' quote types can be used for trading. Each quote can only be used once.

{  
  "clientOrderId": "YourUniqueReference",  
  "buyCurrency": "EUR",  
  "sellCurrency": "GBP",  
  "amount": 10000,  
  "amountCurrency": "EUR",  
  "quoteId": "bf56e3bc-269a-4db5-be4d-71ccf789d5ab",  
  "customerId": "000012356"  
}  
// customerId is optional, but must be specified if used in quote retrieval

The API will then respond to the trade with a confirmation:

{  
  "tradeStatus": "Filled",  
  "clientOrderId": "YourUniqueReference",  
  "bankingCircleRef": "2110081357029",  
  "customerId": "000012356",  
  "boughtCurrency": "EUR",  
  "boughtAmount": 10000,  
  "soldCurrency": "GBP",  
  "soldAmount": 8491.89,  
  "currencyPair": "EURGBP",  
  "exchangeRate": 0.8491892,  
  "valueDate": "2021-10-08"  
}

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Use clientOrderId or bankingCircleRef to query for or reconcile your FX transactions

The client order id in the order as well as the BC Connect reference in the trade confirmation can be used as search criteria to retrieve further details about your transactions via our FX transactions endpoint. BankingCircleRef is furthermore available in the account reconciliation endpoint in field PaymentDetails3.

Bulk RFQ

This feature allows you to request multiple quotes in a single API call. This helps reduce latency and improves efficiency when you need quotes for several currency pairs simultaneously.
The request path is /api/v2/fx/rates/bulk and the HTTP method is POST.

Request Format

Each request part of the API call should include:

ParameterRequiredDescription
currencyPairMandatoryThe currency pair for which you are requesting a quote (e.g., "EURUSD").
amountCurrencyMandatoryThe currency for which the amount is specified.
amountMandatoryThe trade amount.
tenorMandatoryThe settlement period (e.g.SPOT, TN).
validForOptionalThe validity period for the quote in minutes. If you omit this field, a default value of 30 seconds will be applied. Must be an integer.
customerIdMandatoryYour unique client identifier.
indicativeOptionalA flag indicating whether the quote is indicative. If you omit this field, the request will be defaulted to indicative = false.
requestIdMandatoryYour unique RFQ identifier. This is returned together with the corresponding quote.

Request example

[
    {"currencyPair" : "EURUSD",
    "amountCurrency" : "USD",
    "amount" : 1000.0,
    "tenor" : "TN",
    "validFor": 3,
    "customerId": "000012356",
    "indicative": true,
    "requestId": "93880cc4-2c4c-45d7-9562-ce030a3143c9"}
    ,
    {"currencyPair" : "EURAUD",
    "amountCurrency" : "AUD",
    "amount" : 400000.0,
    "tenor" : "SPOT",
    "validFor": 1,
    "customerId": "000012356",
    "requestId": "3be601fd-e337-46b5-9e55-9880389173dc"}
    ,
    {"currencyPair" : "RONDKK",
    "amountCurrency" : "RON",
    "amount" : 600000.0,
    "tenor" : "SPOT",
    "validFor": 1,
    "customerId": "000012356",
    "requestId": "2d5ca819-0610-4605-a388-0efb55aab61a"}
    ,
    {"currencyPair" : "NOKSEK",
    "amountCurrency" : "SEK",
    "amount" : 100.0,
    "tenor" : "ON",
    "validFor": 3,
    "customerId": "000012356",
    "requestId": "587abf9a-59b3-4a0e-bd21-037cb5612adf"}
    ,
    {"currencyPair" : "GBPUSD",
    "amountCurrency" : "GBP",
    "amount" : 1000.0,
    "tenor" : "TN",
    "validFor": 3,
    "customerId": "000012356",
    "indicative": true,
    "requestId": "c621eeb8-b381-42de-987a-8a9eceea06de"}
    ,
    {"currencyPair" : "GBPUSD",
    "amountCurrency" : "GBP",
    "amount" : 30000.0,
    "tenor" : "SPOT",
    "validFor": 2,
    "customerId": "000012356",
    "requestId": "2a334447-01a2-4714-944e-44a12e9e6ee5"}
]

Response format

The response will contain a list of quotes corresponding to each requested currency pair. The response will include:

NameDescription
requestIdThe id corresponding to the request for quote.
quoteTypeIndicates the type of the quote, e.g. Indicative, Tradable, or NotAvailable.
currencyPairThe requested currency pair.
exchangeRateBidThe bid rate for tradable or indicative quotes.
exchangeRateAskThe ask rate for tradable or indicative quotes.
quoteIdA unique identifier for tradable quotes.
expiryTimeThe expiration time for tradable quotes.
errorMessageIf a request fails (e.g., unsupported currency pair), an error message is included.

Response example

[
    {
        "requestId": "93880cc4-2c4c-45d7-9562-ce030a3143c9",
        "quoteType": "Indicative",
        "currencyPair": "EURUSD",
        "exchangeRateBid": 1.0471258,
        "exchangeRateAsk": 1.0477743
    },
    {
        "requestId": "3be601fd-e337-46b5-9e55-9880389173dc",
        "quoteType": "Tradable",
        "currencyPair": "EURAUD",
        "exchangeRateBid": 1.6394057,
        "exchangeRateAsk": 1.6425947,
        "quoteId": "b938e1be-67f2-4654-b662-43bbdd73fc52",
        "expiryTime": "2025-02-21T13:41:14.3019907+00:00"
    },
    {
        "requestId": "2d5ca819-0610-4605-a388-0efb55aab61a",
        "quoteType": "Tradable",
        "currencyPair": "RONDKK",
        "exchangeRateBid": 1.4973183,
        "exchangeRateAsk": 1.4998111,
        "quoteId": "103ffb47-094f-431e-ae35-08eb0734fb35",
        "expiryTime": "2025-02-21T13:41:14.3020116+00:00"
    },
    {
        "requestId": "587abf9a-59b3-4a0e-bd21-037cb5612adf",
        "quoteType": "Indicative",
        "currencyPair": "NOKSEK",
        "exchangeRateBid": 0.9730106,
        "exchangeRateAsk": 0.9742896
    },
    {
        "requestId": "c621eeb8-b381-42de-987a-8a9eceea06de",
        "quoteType": "Indicative",
        "currencyPair": "GBPUSD",
        "exchangeRateBid": 1.2647305,
        "exchangeRateAsk": 1.2655296
    },
    {
        "requestId": "2a334447-01a2-4714-944e-44a12e9e6ee5",
        "quoteType": "Tradable",
        "currencyPair": "GBPUSD",
        "exchangeRateBid": 1.2647305,
        "exchangeRateAsk": 1.2655296,
        "quoteId": "e666f552-274f-443b-a935-57d251101217",
        "expiryTime": "2025-02-21T13:41:14.3021799+00:00"
    }
]

Handling invalid requests

The bulk RFQ endpoint processes all valid requests, even if one or more requests are invalid. In other words, invalid requests will not block valid ones from being processed.

The response will contain an errorMessage field detailing the reason a quote could not be generated, together with the request identifier, and the quoteType field set to NotAvailable.

Request example

[
    {"currencyPair" : "GBPUSD",
    "amountCurrency" : "GBP",
    "amount" : 1000.0,
    "tenor" : "TN",
    "validFor": 3,
    "customerId": "000012356",
    "indicative": true,
    "requestId": "c621eeb8-b381-42de-987a-8a9eceea06de"}
    ,
    {"currencyPair" : "GBPUSD",
    "amountCurrency" : "GBP",
    "amount" : 30000.0,
    "tenor" : "SPOT",
    "validFor": 2,
    "customerId": "000012356",
    "requestId": "2a334447-01a2-4714-944e-44a12e9e6ee5"}
    ,
    {"currencyPair" : "EURARS",
    "amountCurrency" : "ARS",
    "amount" : 1000.0,
    "tenor" : "TN",
    "validFor": 3,
    "customerId": "000012356",
    "requestId": "1d16d511-f1ff-4e73-aad0-5a9b7beb4ea6"}
]

Response example

[
    {
        "errorMessage": "Currency pair not supported",
        "requestId": "1d16d511-f1ff-4e73-aad0-5a9b7beb4ea6",
        "quoteType": "NotAvailable",
        "currencyPair": "EURARS"
    },
    {
        "requestId": "c621eeb8-b381-42de-987a-8a9eceea06de",
        "quoteType": "Indicative",
        "currencyPair": "GBPUSD",
        "exchangeRateBid": 1.2641407,
        "exchangeRateAsk": 1.2649494
    },
    {
        "requestId": "2a334447-01a2-4714-944e-44a12e9e6ee5",
        "quoteType": "Tradable",
        "currencyPair": "GBPUSD",
        "exchangeRateBid": 1.2641407,
        "exchangeRateAsk": 1.2649494,
        "quoteId": "bb4387bd-dfd8-40c5-ae2d-26ba18a53df1",
        "expiryTime": "2025-02-21T13:53:37.7266434+00:00"
    }
]

Indicative Rates

It is possible to retrieve an indicative foreign exchange quote from BC Connect using a simple GET request. This will give you a rough approximation of the exchange rate currently available if you were to initiate either a cross-border payment or an BC Connect FX order at the time of the request.

The Foreign Exchange market moves rapidly - volatile periods can result in thousands of microscopic price movements per second. As such, querying the endpoint multiple times for the same two currencies will not usually produce the same quote. In most payment scenarios, however, these movements are relatively insignificant.

Indicative rates can be retrieved from the BC Connect FX request-for-quote (RFQ) endpoint as described above - just add &indicative=true as a request parameter. Outside of our opening hours and during periods where the FX market is closed, it is only possible to retrieve indicative quotes.

Updated about 1 month ago