Many people start using currency APIs without much research. However, you may have to face a lot of problems in the long term if you don’t select the most suitable API for your application. For example, you may need to add a new currency to your application in the future, although you are currently using a couple of currencies. What if the currency API you selected doesn’t support the new currency you want?
What about the uptime of your currency API? There will be a lot of requests for your application as it grows. Does the API you selected have enough bandwidth to support all those requests for 24 hours? And the list goes on. Sometimes you might still be unaware of how much your currency API has contributed to defaming your application among users. In this article, we will discuss ten signs that indicate you need to switch to a new currency API. If you already have them, it’s time to upgrade to a new API.
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Do you get an inaccurate exchange rate?
The main functionality of the currency API is to provide an accurate exchange rate. Yet, have you ever checked whether your API provides accurate results by comparing it with a real-time official exchange rate website or other sources? If not, now is the right time to do so. If you see that the rates are different or inaccurate, it’s obviously high time to change your API. Currencylayer refreshes its exchange rates every 60 seconds, ensuring that investors have access to the most up-to-date information. Its rate will vary regardless of how stable a currency is. In a nutshell, the one and the only way to survive ahead of its rivals are to provide real-time data.
Is it difficult to learn?
Learning APIs is not the easiest task since most good APIs lack documentation or training materials. It is a huge disadvantage as it wastes developers’ time, also resulting in a waste of money. Is the API you use easy to learn, and can you easily find how to use it with different programming languages? These are some of the questions that arise when using the API. It’s the right time to move forward with a new API if it’s difficult to find answers to these questions with the API you use. However, Currencylayer comes with well-formed documentation that helps developers get hold of the API quickly as it includes all the implementation details from scratch. We also have a tutorial using Python Flask.
Don’t you get proper support service?
Instant bug fixing and customer support are essential for an API to play in the market. Have you tried contacting the support service? Does the API support you 24/7? How long did the support take to fix the issues? These are some of the common questions that arise to clarify if the support works as intended. Currencylayer comes with instant sales and customer support and an updated FAQ, which helps application owners quickly resolve their inquiries or issues. It has a thriving support team that will help you with any questions you may have while putting the regimen into action.
Doesn’t it support the currencies you need?
Most applications now support different currencies. Thus, it is critical to be able to handle multiple currencies and quickly convert one currency to another. Therefore, don’t think twice and switch to a new API if your current API does not support the required currencies. The Currencylayer API will be really useful here as it handles the given scenario well. Also find out what is a target currency.
Is the price of the currency API too high?
While APIs may have many features, most of them can be pretty expensive. Besides, some users might find the nice-to-have features in the premium subscription plan. It makes them think twice, as they expect the best solution for the lowest possible price. Currencylayer delivers 250 complimentary requests each month, with additional features starting at a comparatively low monthly subscription.
Is the API secure?
Have you experienced security issues or attacks through your API? The security of an API is crucial since it is integrated into the application, and it will mess up the system as a whole if the connection is attacked. So switch to CurrencyLayer if you encounter security issues with your API. It ensures that you’ll never have to cope with any security flaws or hassles with security procedures such as industry-grade bank-level encryption and HTTPS connections. It increases productivity by reducing the amount of time you spend assuring the security of your data.
Is your current solution satisfactory in terms of speed?
Does your API meet the given standards in terms of speed? If the answer is no, move forward to change your API, or else you will have to face many consequences. For instance, you may lose users if your response time is slow. Your consumer may change his/her mind even if the application takes a few more seconds to respond. When interacting with an API, the allowable maximum response time is usually one second. This accuracy is required to compete with the rest of the APIs in the market. When it comes to Currencylayer, it has the fastest response time along with results that are updated every 60 seconds, 10 minutes, or hourly based on the subscription.
Is it hard to integrate with the applications?
Have you encountered difficulties integrating the application with the API you are using? The majority of currency API solutions feature user-friendly integration and support pages. However, old APIs used XML or CSV formats, which were quite complicated to parse and read. With the evolving technology, most APIs employ the JSON format, which allows them to integrate and be compatible with any programming language easily. It also improves the scalability of the system. JSON is very simple to read and compile, simplifying the integration process. The standard API response from Currencylayer is a lightweight JSON file with various objects and characteristics that may be readily parsed. Here is an additional list of reasons you may need a currency API.
Does the API support past currency rates?
Does the API you use get you historical currency rates? Forecasting currency rates can help you reduce risk while increasing profits. Not all currency APIs support past currency rates, which is a huge disadvantage as it makes currency analysis and prediction impossible. The Currencylayer API solves this issue by providing precise historical currency rate data for each previous day dating back to 1999.
Doesn’t it support base currency change?
Is it possible to change your base currency or not? If the answer is no, switch to Currencylayer. Usually, APIs don’t support changing the base currency, which is quite inconvenient as the results are relative to the default currency. However, you might need to change the base currency depending on your preference or requirement. As a paid client, you can request currency rates for a currency other than US dollars in Currencylayer. It can be done by simply appending the source parameter preceded by the 3-letter currency code of your preference.
What does the Currencylayer get you?
Currencylayer is a simple REST API that delivers real-time and historical exchange rates across 168 global currencies. It also offers currency pairs in an internationally usable JSON format that can be utilized in any of your applications. Data on spot exchange rates are received in real-time from multiple major forex data suppliers, checked, analyzed, and provided hourly every 10 minutes, or even inside the 60-second exchange window.
Try currencylayer to resolve many problems prevailing in other currency APIs.
