# Quotes and exchange rates A quote gives you a **confirmed preview of the cost and outcome of a proposed payment before you commit to sending it**. Every payment in Payments Direct starts with a quote: you request pricing for a proposed transfer, review the exchange rate and fees, and then use the quote to create the payment. If the quote expires before you act on it, you request a new one with updated pricing. ## What a quote includes A quote captures all the financial terms for a proposed payment at a specific point in time: - **Exchange rate**: The rate Ripple will use to convert between the source and destination currencies. See [Exchange rates and FX margin](#exchange-rates-and-fx-margin) below. - **Source and destination amounts**: How much leaves your account and how much arrives at the beneficiary. Depending on how you request the quote, one amount is the input you provide and the other is calculated from the exchange rate and fees. - **Fees**: Ripple's service charges for processing the payment. See [Fees](#fees) below. - **Taxes**: Applicable consumption taxes (VAT, GST) on Ripple's service fees, where required by local regulations. See [Taxes on fees](#taxes-on-fees) below. - **Payment rail**: The specific payment network used to deliver funds. Examples include ACH for US dollar payouts, SEPA for euro payouts, and SPEI for Mexican peso payouts. - **Validity window**: The date and time the quote was created and when it expires. ## Exchange rates and FX margin When you request a quote, Ripple sources the current exchange rate for your currency pair from external market data providers. This base rate reflects prevailing market conditions at that moment. Ripple then applies an **FX margin** to arrive at the **adjusted exchange rate**, which is the rate shown in your quote. The margin accounts for Ripple's cost of providing the foreign exchange service and managing rate risk between the time a quote is issued and the payment settles. The margin is expressed in basis points (hundredths of a percent) and is applied as a spread on top of the base rate. The adjusted exchange rate is the only rate shown in your quote. The underlying base rate is not disclosed separately. Rate lock Once a quote is issued, the exchange rate is locked for the duration of the quote's validity window. Market movements during that time do not affect the rate shown in your quote. ## Fees Each quote includes a **fee breakdown** showing Ripple's service charges for the payment. Fees can take two forms: - **Flat fee**: A fixed charge regardless of the payment amount (for example, $3.00 per transaction). - **Percentage fee**: A charge calculated as a percentage of the payment amount, expressed in basis points (for example, 50 basis points = 0.5%). Some payments include both a flat fee and a percentage fee. The applicable fee structure depends on the currency corridor, payment rail, and your specific agreement with Ripple. All fees are reflected in the total cost shown in the quote before you commit to a payment. ## Taxes on fees In jurisdictions where Ripple is required to collect consumption taxes (such as VAT or GST), those taxes apply to **Ripple's service fees only**, not to the payment principal. For example, if Ripple's service fee is $5.00 and the applicable tax rate is 10%, the tax is $0.50. The amount delivered to the beneficiary is not reduced by the tax. If no taxes apply to a given payment, the tax information will not appear in the quote. ## Quote validity and expiration Quotes are time-limited. By default, a quote is valid for **15 minutes** from the time it is issued, though your account may be configured with a different validity window. A quote within its validity window has an `ACTIVE` status. Once the window closes, the quote becomes `EXPIRED` and can no longer be used to initiate a payment. The exact expiration time is included in the quote, so you can display it to your users or build logic to prompt a refresh before it lapses. If a quote expires, simply request a new one. The new quote will reflect the current rate and fees at that moment. ## Quoting by source amount or destination amount When you request a quote, you specify either the amount you want to send or the amount you want the beneficiary to receive: - **Source amount**: You specify how much to send (for example, 1,000 USD). Ripple calculates how much the beneficiary receives after applying the exchange rate and fees. - **Destination amount**: You specify how much the beneficiary must receive (for example, 20,000 MXN). Ripple calculates how much you need to send to cover the exchange and fees. Use source amount when the sender controls the spend. Use destination amount when the beneficiary needs to receive a precise amount, for example when paying an invoice denominated in the destination currency. ## Quote collections and payment rails When you request a quote for a currency corridor, the response is organized as a **quote collection**. A quote collection can contain one or more quotes, one for each payment rail available for that corridor. For example, a USD-to-BRL quote collection might include separate quotes for BR_PIX and BR_TED, each with its own fee structure. This lets you compare available options before committing to a payment. When only one rail is available for a corridor, the collection contains a single quote. If you need to route a payment over a specific rail, you can request a quote for that rail directly. ## How quotes connect to payments A quote must be `ACTIVE` when you use it to initiate a payment. Once you create a payment referencing a quote, the quoted exchange rate and fees become the binding financial terms for that payment. The remaining validity time on the quote no longer applies after the payment is created. Each quote is specific to one payment request. If a payment fails or is declined, you will need to request a new quote before retrying. For the steps that follow quoting, see [Payment lifecycle](/products/payments-direct-2/introduction/concepts/payment-lifecycle). For details on how your account balance is used once a payment is initiated, see [Funding methods](/products/payments-direct-2/introduction/concepts/funding-methods).