When a bank is quoting its rates (in the form of a spread), it will always state those rates that are most advantageous to it, known as ‘sell low, buy high’. This means that, by selling low, it will give you as little as possible of the currency you are buying for your money. Conversely, when you are buying a currency, a bank will buy high – that is, the bank will take as much of one currency from you as it can in exchange for the currency it sells to you