Pricing and rates
Spread
The gap applied to the reference rate. It is the service’s revenue, whether it is shown or not.
Every platform applies a spread. What separates providers is not whether it exists but whether it appears as its own line or is folded into the displayed rate. A service advertising zero fees almost always applies a rate below mid-market: the margin is identical, it has changed name.
A spread shown separately can be verified: the customer can redo the calculation. A spread folded into the rate cannot, since its input — the reference rate actually used — is not published. That is why two "no fee" offers can differ by two percentage points.