Split expenses in two currencies without converting

What happens to balances when a trip uses two currencies?

Each currency becomes its own balance, and nothing is converted unless you do it. Say Ana, Ben and Cleo take a trip. Ana pays the hotel, €300.00, and Ben pays a dinner, £120.00, and both are split three ways equally. Each person’s share is €100.00 of the hotel and £40.00 of the dinner.

Person	Euro balance	Pound balance
Ana	owed €200.00	owes £40.00
Ben	owes €100.00	owed £80.00
Cleo	owes €100.00	owes £40.00

Each column is complete on its own. Ana’s €200.00 is exactly what Ben and Cleo owe in euros, and Ben’s £80.00 is exactly what Ana and Cleo owe in pounds. Never add a euro line to a pound line, because €200.00 and £40.00 do not make 240 of anything.

How do you log it as you go?

Log each expense in the currency you paid. In EvenOut, tap the currency chip next to the amount and pick from 154 currencies. A group made in the app starts in USD, so change the chip for the euro hotel and again for the pound dinner. The hotel is €300.00, “Paid by Ana” and “Split equally”. The dinner is £120.00, “Paid by Ben”.

The “Balances” block keeps a separate line for each currency, and the “Settle up” screen has its own currency chip. Read the balances one currency at a time. The group headline and the overall lines on the Groups tab add different currencies together, so go by the lines in “Balances”, not by the headline.

Option A: how do you settle each currency on its own?

Pay every balance in the currency it is in. For the trip above that is four payments and no rate:

1. Ben pays Ana €100.00.
2. Cleo pays Ana €100.00.
3. Ana pays Ben £40.00.
4. Cleo pays Ben £40.00.

Record each one in its own currency and both columns clear. This fits when people already hold both currencies or the amounts are small. The cost is more transfers, and someone may have to buy the other currency first. Simplify debts also keeps each currency separate, so a bigger group gets a short list of payments in each. How simplify debts works shows how that list is built.

Option B: how do you settle in one currency?

Agree one rate, convert every balance by hand, and pay the smaller set of payments that results.

1. Agree a rate, a source and a date. Write all three in the group. This page uses 1 EUR = 0.85 GBP as an example only. It is not a market rate.
2. Convert the euro balances. Multiply by 0.85. Ana’s €200.00 is £170.00, Ben’s €100.00 is £85.00 and Cleo’s €100.00 is £85.00.
3. Add each person’s pound balance. Ana is owed £170.00 and owes £40.00, so she is owed £130.00. Ben owes £85.00 and is owed £80.00, so he owes £5.00. Cleo owes £85.00 and £40.00, so she owes £125.00. The check is £130.00 = £5.00 + £125.00.
4. Pay the smallest set. Cleo pays Ana £125.00 and Ben pays Ana £5.00. That is 2 payments instead of 4.
5. Record it so both currencies clear. Because balances are kept per currency, each currency still shows what was owed until you record payments in it. Record the four payments from Option A, each in its own currency, even though the money moves as two payments, and add a comment to each: “Settled as £125.00 and £5.00 at 1 EUR = 0.85 GBP, agreed Oct 12”. Both columns now read zero, and the comments hold the story of what really moved.

The recorded amounts are the balances being cleared, not the money that changed hands. The real transfers happen in your bank or payment app, and EvenOut only keeps the record.

Which option should you pick?

Pick Option A when the group is small or the balances are small, because it needs no agreement about rates. Pick Option B when the group is bigger or the balances point both ways, as they do for Ben: he owes euros and is owed pounds, so converting lets his £80.00 cancel against his €100.00 and leaves him owing £5.00.

The saving grows with the group. A group of n people needs at most n minus 1 payments in one currency. With two currencies kept apart that can double, so five people can need up to 8 payments across two currencies and at most 4 in one. Option B costs you one rate to agree and some arithmetic to check. If anyone in the group is likely to dispute the rate, choose Option A and accept the extra transfers.

What does Splitwise do with two currencies?

As of October 2026, Splitwise’s help center describes three behaviors that matter for a trip.

• Balances stay separate by default. Its example is “You owe $12.45 and you are owed £8.72”. To log another currency, you tap the currency symbol next to the amount.
• Changing the currency is only a label. It does not convert the amount.
• Conversion is a Pro button. “Convert to [default currency]” converts every expense in the group or friendship, settled ones included, which can change other people’s balances. It uses the Open Exchange Rates mid-market rate at the moment you tap.

As of October 2026, Splitwise’s Simplify Debts also works within each currency separately and does not combine them. The full Splitwise side is in does Splitwise convert currency.

EvenOut has no conversion at all. Each expense carries its own currency, and balances, settle up and simplify debts are kept per currency. If you want the app itself to show one converted figure for the whole group, EvenOut does not do that, and Option B above does it by hand with a rate you chose.

What should you do next?

Log in the currency paid for the whole trip, then pick Option A or B on the last day. If the group is large or the balances are lopsided, Option B saves transfers, and the who owes who calculator is a quick way to check the netting before you send money. For the arithmetic behind net balances, how to figure out who owes who walks through a four-person example.