The Cost of Doing Business: What Black-Market Euros Really Cost You
Buying euros or dollars on the square to pay a foreign API costs far more than the bank price. Count the layers, see the real gap, and pay for the same models in dinars.
- Measure the gap between the square price and the bank price of a euro.
- Add the layers a virtual card stacks on top.
- Pay for the same AI models in dinars, with nothing to convert.
You sell in dinars, and the tools you build on bill in dollars or euros. Your card does not pay abroad, so you buy currency on the street or through an exchange app.
This article puts the real figures side by side, read the week this note was written.
Measure the real gap
Two prices exist for the same euro. The bank's, and the street's.
The square rate is the price of a euro or a dollar on the street market around Square Port-Saïd in Algiers. Its role is to show what currency really costs someone with no bank access to it.
Let's see right away what that gap means for 100 euros.
On the square, 100 euros sold for 27,700 DA. At the Bank of Algeria's rate, 150.52 DA a euro, the same 100 euros were worth about 15,052 DA. The gap, about 12,650 DA, paid for no model at all. Figures reported by Algérie Zoom on 2 October 2026.
On the same day, a dollar sold for 240 DA on the square. Every dollar of a foreign API bill paid that way costs you 240 DA before any fee.
The bank won't sell me euros for this anyway. What choice do I have?
Pay a service that bills you in dinars. Then there is no currency to buy, and the square rate leaves your costs entirely.
Add the layers on top
The square rate is only the first layer. Loading a virtual card adds its own fee. An exchange app adds the difference between its buying and selling price.
Count every layer before you compare: the square rate, the card's loading fee and the exchange app's fee. The rate alone hides the rest.
Then comes the risk. A card refused next month leaves its loading fees behind, and the API bill those euros are usually bought for stays unpaid.
Your books suffer too. Cash bought on the street leaves no receipt, so the expense is hard to justify.
Pay in dinars instead
OpenDunes shows each model's price in dinars on its model page. You deposit dinars with Edahabia or CIB, and each request takes its cost from that balance.
Each deposit and each request appears in your account's activity, which gives your accountant a trail to follow.
Buy currency on the square every month to keep a foreign API account alive.
Deposit dinars once, and read each request's cost in dinars on your usage page.
Now count your own case.
Context: your foreign API bill is 30 dollars a month, paid with dollars bought on the square at 240 DA.
Task: in a spreadsheet, work out what that bill costs in dinars, then how many GPT-6 Luna messages the same dinars buy at about 0.11 DA a message.
Show the answerHide the answer
30 × 240 DA make 7,200 DA a month. At about 0.11 DA a message, 7,200 DA buy about 65,000 messages on GPT-6 Luna.
- On 2 October 2026, 100 euros cost 27,700 DA on the square, against about 15,052 DA at the bank's rate.
- A dollar cost 240 DA on the square the same day.
- Card fees and exchange fees stack on top of the square rate.
- OpenDunes prices each model in dinars, so there is no currency to buy.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I show a client what their usage cost?
Yes. Create one API key per client, and your usage page shows what each key spent, in dinars.
Is the price in dinars fixed?
Each model page shows its price in DA today. Prices follow the model providers, so read the page before a large job.
Can a company deposit, not only a person?
A deposit is made with an Edahabia or CIB card. A company that pays with its own CIB card deposits the same way.
You now know what each euro bought on the street really costs you. In the next article, we look at what your Edahabia card can and cannot pay for online. See you there!
Pay for AI in dinars
- Deposit your dinars with Edahabia or CIB
- An OpenAI-compatible API key
- One balance for the chat and the API