Last updated: October 26, 2026 · By the FXPayback Research Desk
To calculate a forex swap, multiply your broker’s swap rate in points by the value of one point and by your lot size, then by the number of nights you hold. Wednesday’s rollover usually counts three nights. On 1 lot of EUR/USD, a swap of -8 points costs about $8 a night and $56 for a full week.
Most traders know their spread to the decimal. Ask them what last month’s swaps cost and you’ll often get a shrug. That’s a problem, because for anyone who holds trades for days, swap can quietly become the biggest cost on the statement. Let’s fix that with real numbers.
What is a forex swap, and why do you pay or earn it?
When you hold a position past the daily rollover, you’re effectively borrowing one currency and holding another overnight. The swap is the interest difference between the two, plus or minus your broker’s markup. If you’re long the currency with the higher interest rate, you may earn a little. If you’re long the lower-yielding one, you pay.
Interest rates are the starting point, so here’s where the main ones stood in late October 2026:
| Central bank | Policy rate | Source |
|---|---|---|
| US Federal Reserve | 3.75–4.00% | Trading Economics |
| European Central Bank (deposit rate) | 2.50% | Trading Economics |
| Bank of Canada | 2.25% | Trading Economics |
| Bank of Japan | 1.25% | Newsquawk |
Rates change, so treat the table as a snapshot. The Fed, BoC, ECB and BoJ all meet between October 28 and October 30, 2026.
What is the formula for calculating swap?
On MT4 and MT5, most brokers quote swap in points. The simple version looks like this:
Swap per night = swap rate (points) × value of 1 point × lots
On EUR/USD, one point is 0.00001, and on a 1-lot (100,000 unit) position that point is worth $1. So a long swap of -8 points means you pay $8 per night per lot. On 0.1 lot, it’s $0.80.
Some brokers show the money version instead. Pepperstone’s own education page uses: daily swap = (one point / exchange rate) × (trade size × tom-next rate). In its worked example, a 1-lot EUR/USD long at a swap rate of -11.49 cost €10.18 per day, while the short side earned €6.22. Notice the gap between those two numbers? That’s the broker’s markup. Long and short are never mirror images.
How can you estimate swap from interest rates yourself?
You can sanity-check any broker’s swap with a rough “fair value” figure, before markup:
Daily interest ≈ position value in USD × rate difference ÷ 365
Here’s what that gives with late-October 2026 rates, using the 4.00% top of the Fed’s range. EUR/USD was at 1.1202 on October 23, per Trading Economics.
| Pair (1 lot) | Rate difference | Approx. daily interest | Who earns in theory |
|---|---|---|---|
| EUR/USD (about $112,020) | 4.00% − 2.50% = 1.50% | about $4.60 | Short sellers |
| USD/JPY ($100,000) | 4.00% − 1.25% = 2.75% | about $7.53 | Buyers |
| USD/CAD ($100,000) | 4.00% − 2.25% = 1.75% | about $4.79 | Buyers |
Real swaps come out worse than this for most traders because of the markup. If your broker’s long EUR/USD swap costs far more than $4.60 a night per lot, that’s where the difference goes. It’s also why the side that “should” earn sometimes earns almost nothing.
Why does Wednesday cost three times as much?
Spot forex settles two business days after the trade (T+2). A position held through Wednesday’s rollover settles on Monday, so it picks up interest for Saturday and Sunday too. Pepperstone explains that holding past 5 p.m. New York time on Wednesday is treated as a Thursday trade, so three days of interest are applied. Some brokers put the triple day on Friday for certain CFDs such as indices, so check your contract specification.
How much does swap really cost over a week or a month?
Here’s a worked example. Say your broker’s long EUR/USD swap is -8 points (an example figure, not a live quote). You hold 1 lot:
| Holding period | Nights charged | Swap cost (1 lot) | Swap cost (0.1 lot) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mon to Tue (1 rollover) | 1 | $8 | $0.80 |
| Through Wednesday’s rollover | 3 | $24 | $2.40 |
| One full week (5 rollovers) | 7 | $56 | $5.60 |
| Four weeks | 28 | $224 | $22.40 |
Compare that with a 1-pip spread, which costs 10 dollars per lot, paid once. For a scalper, swap barely matters. For a swing trader holding for a month, swap can cost more than 20 times the spread. That changes which trades are worth taking. A setup targeting 50 pips (500 dollars per lot) gives back almost half of it in swap if it takes four weeks to play out.
How do you find your swap rate in MT4 or MT5?
- Open Market Watch, right-click the symbol and choose Specification.
- Note the swap type (points, percent or money) and the swap long and swap short values.
- Check the 3-day swap line to see which weekday carries the triple charge.
- Multiply: swap points × point value × lots × nights.
- Log the result in your trading journal next to spread and commission, so you see the full cost of each trade.
If you already keep a journal, our guide on tracking your real trading costs shows how to set up the columns. Swaps also change your position sizing: a trade that bleeds swap needs a wider profit target, which should feed into how much you risk per trade.
Is a swap-free account the answer?
Sometimes. Islamic (swap-free) accounts remove the overnight interest, which suits traders who avoid interest for religious reasons. But some brokers replace swap with a fixed admin fee after a set number of days, or widen spreads on certain pairs. We compared the real costs in our look at Islamic swap-free accounts. Read the terms, then run the same calculation with the fee instead of the swap.
An honest caution: chasing positive swap (the carry trade) can work for a while, then one sharp move wipes out months of interest. A swap credit of $7 a night means little if the pair falls 200 pips.
How does cashback offset your holding costs?
You can’t avoid swap on a normal account, but you can lower the total cost of each trade. With FXPayback, you get up to 90% of the IB commission back as cashback on every lot you close, win or lose.
Worked example: at the time of writing, the Exness Standard account cashback is $2–3 per lot on forex. Say you swing-trade 30 lots of EUR/USD a month and pay $8 a night in swap on part of them. At $2.50 a lot, cashback returns $75 a month, which covers about nine nights of swap on a 1-lot position. Plug your own volume into the rebate calculator to see your number. FXPayback has been paying traders since 2020, withdrawals start at $1, and the payout proofs are public.
Start getting cashback on every lot at FXPayback.com
Frequently Asked Questions
What time is forex swap charged?
Swap is applied at the daily rollover, usually 5 p.m. New York time, which many brokers show as 00:00 server time. Positions closed before rollover pay no swap for that day.
Do I pay swap on a trade I open and close the same day?
No. If the position is closed before the rollover, no swap is charged, no matter how long it was open during the day.
Why is my swap negative on both long and short?
When the interest difference between two currencies is small, the broker’s markup can be larger than the interest you’d earn, so both directions end up as a cost.
Does FXPayback cashback apply to swap-free accounts?
Cashback is paid per lot traded on eligible account types at partner brokers. Whether a swap-free account qualifies depends on the broker, so check that broker’s page on FXPayback for eligible accounts and rates when you sign up.
Risk disclaimer: Trading forex, gold and CFDs involves significant risk and you can lose more than your deposit. Swap rates change often and differ between brokers. This article is for information only and is not financial advice.