Currency, which differs from nation to nation, is a means of trade for products and services.
Currency localization is essential for the expansion of cross-border e-commerce given that there are 195 countries around the globe and 180 currencies recognized by the UN. Currency localization is a difficult process that calls for the usage of patterns, symbols, and codes to represent the currency and its appropriate exchange rate. As you expand your business internationally, one of the most important ways to enhance the client experience is by supporting multiple local currencies on your e-commerce website. Here are a few things to keep in mind while managing several currencies on your website for a worldwide audience.
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How currency localization works
Websites that accept payment methods that customers are unfamiliar with or unable to utilize may cause confusion or mistrust. The user experience is enhanced by currency localization properly by boosting consumer confidence and decreasing shopping cart abandonment. The formatting of amount, date, and time for money has been standardized globally by the Common Locale Data Repository (CLDR), which makes localizing currencies simpler, more reliable, and consistent.
Each country’s currency must be formatted differently, and the variations might be confusing to people who aren’t familiar with formats and conversions. Following international standards helps to avoid misunderstandings and mistakes throughout the localization process. Imagine adding a $1000.00 item and getting a statement for $1467.76 to further understand the problems that could occur with incorrect currency localization. You may not have recognized the currency displayed was in United States Dollars (USD) and not New Zealand Dollars even if it was reflected in dollars and you were shopping from New Zealand (NZD). You ended up paying 46% more than you intended to due to a conversion that took place behind the scenes.
Here are some of the essential components that are utilized to show where modern money came from, how much it is worth, and how to avoid problems with localization like dropped registration attempts, abandoned shopping carts, and subpar user experiences.
Formatting currency codes and symbols
International Organization for Standardization rules must be followed by all governments (ISO). Governments employ a set of licensed programs and services collectively known as the Currency System to print and distribute money to various sectors of the economy. The Currency System also holds a license to utilize ISO 4217 and other special three-letter Alpha codes for international currencies. It’s common to refer to this code as a SWIFT currency code.
The graphic image of money is called a symbol. For instance, the sign for the British pound is £, whereas that of the dollar is $, the euro is €, and the yen is. The location of the sign might be either before or after the dollar amount, depending on local custom.
Example: How to localize the dollar
Although more than twenty countries utilize the dollar, there are a few different ways to identify the nation being mentioned. For instance, the US dollar is denoted as $5.75, USD 5.75, or US $5.75. When a person from the USA visits Canada, the local currency ought to alter accordingly. For instance, the USD would change to $5.75 or $5.75 CAD.
There are variants, of course, and the price may also be written as C$1.23, CA$1.23, or CAN$1.23.
Formatting is employed to communicate a currency’s value. For instance, spaces, decimal commas, and decimal points are used to separate numbers.
Separator
Both fifteen euros and twenty cents and fifteen thousand euros and twenty cents are written as 15,20 € and 15.000,20 €, respectively.
In the USA, a comma is used to denote thousands and the currency sign is used before the value: $15,000.00. You may have also observed that there is a void between the symbol and the digits.
In reality, the UK and the USA are fairly unusual in that they use a point to denote the start of a decimal and a comma to denote the start of a thousand. While most nations would do the exact opposite, some use gaps in their place.
In India, an integer’s three rightmost digits are combined while the remaining digits are split into pairs: 12,34,567.89.
Right-to-left languages
Numerous nations employ the Western Arabic numerals 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on. Other places, such Eastern Arabic, Bengali, and Thai, employ various numeral alphabets.
Arabic and Hebrew, for example, are written and read from left to right (RTL). However, the numbers that go with currencies frequently continue to be written in the left-to-right (LTR) orientation, which presents special problems for software that must display bidirectional (BiDi) text. As an illustration, using Western Arabic:
Fee for withdrawal: $25 USD
رسوم السØب – $25 USD
Understanding currency localisation can be challenging from one region or even country to another.
A clear message and a well-considered placement strategy can help businesses avoid mistakes. By supporting many languages and currencies through the use of dependable software and respect for international standards, you may increase customer trust while lowering expenses.
Here are some pointers to help you localize money and value correctly moving forward.
Recommendations
- Determine the nations with which you do business and the currencies you want to support moving forward.
- Create a plan for localizing any numerical material, including numbers, dates, times, units, and sizes. This plan should be based on criteria similar to those listed in the article and include guidelines for how each country’s relevant regions should be formatted.
- Use the appropriate frameworks and tools to handle your localization requirements and match your plan.
- For currencies, numbers, or dates that will be part of the information you provide with your translation partner, include your preferred forms in your style guides so that they can reliably localize them.
GTE Localize is a professional translation agency that offers various solutions for businesses. Does localization figure into your upcoming project? Find out how we can assist.
