Anyone else feel the same way? We waited and waited for the CAD to go back down below parity and let see what Google Just did this month (which is the exact same rate from last month): Amount of Payment in Local Currency CAD $xxx Exchange Rate 1.000 : 1 Payment Amount: USD $xxx As of now looking at http://www.financialpost.com/ top right corner, the CAD is at 0.9534 which is well below 1. That exchange rate is worse than PayPal's famous 'eat you 2.5%' rate. What's up with them ...
It's not too far off the "bank" rate. Today TD Canada Trust has rates at 1.0698 (Canadian to US) and 1.0264 (US to Canadian). So that's "only" $2.64 on every US$100 earned in Adsense. http://www.tdcommercialbanking.com/tradefinance/rates.jsp Scotiabank today is at 1.069 & 1.024 http://scotiabank.com/rates/fxrates.html I don't know anyone who exchanges exactly at the bank rate - often not even the Banks. When I use my CIBC debit card in the US they charge me +4.5% plus transaction fees.
it's more like $4 every $100. If you have been paying attention to google's exchange rate every month, they are not using the bank rate that plus a fee on it. You think google will exchange CAD like we do at the bank and get eaten 2% on the rate? Imagine how much CAD they have to exchange to pay Canadian at the end of each month, they must have do it at forex or other means that give the best price which is close to the exact rate. Take away that, even if it's $2 per $100, in $1000 it misses $20, in $10000 it misses $200. That could be what some people earn in a day. Again imagine how much CAD they have to pay out, must be much more than $10000. So what gives ... after smart pricing now that's smart forex beta by google. it could be a mistake as you and me can see it's not right at 1:1, it can't be at 1:1 today, yesterday, the whole week etc.
and I just got an email confirmed that the payment was made with an "incorrect exchange rate". I am sure they will fix it soon which is great.