Bank of Ceylon Exchange Rate API: LKR Buy and Sell Rates as JSON

Bank of Ceylon is the state-owned bank and the largest in Sri Lanka, and its board is the one most widely quoted locally. The rates page publishes currency, draft and telegraphic-transfer buying and selling rates for about 17 currencies, timestamped to the minute. This guide shows how to read that board as JSON: what the rates mean, how they compare with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka official rate and with other banks in Sri Lanka, and the calls that return them.

What the BOC board shows

• 17 currencies against the Sri Lankan rupee: AUD, CAD, CHF, CNY, DKK, EUR, GBP, HKD, INR, JPY, NOK, NZD, SEK, SGD, THB, USD and ZAR. Every value is LKR per 1 unit of the foreign currency.
• The telegraphic transfer pair. Sri Lankan banks publish three or four boards for the same currency: currency notes over the counter, demand drafts, telegraphic transfers and import bills. The rates here are the telegraphic-transfer pair, which is what an inbound remittance is actually converted at and the number worth comparing between banks. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka’s indicative rate sits between the banks’ buying and selling.
• USD on 13 November 2026: BOC bought at 328 and sold at 337 LKR, a spread of 2.71%. The Central Bank of Sri Lanka official rate was 332.5, so the bank's mid matched it.
• No timestamp on the bank's page. BOC does not print a last-updated time, so bank_updated_at is null and captured_at (when AllRatesToday read the page) is the only time available.
• Every day's board is kept permanently, from 24 September 2026. Read one past day with ?date=, or a range for one currency with the /history endpoint (paid plans).

Spreads across the board

On the 13 November 2026 board the tightest spreads were USD (2.71%), GBP (3.21%), EUR (3.75%) and the widest INR (17.35%), THB (9.34%), AUD (5.96%). Spread is (sell − buy) ÷ mid: what a round trip through the bank costs, before any fees. The API returns it on every row as spread_pct, so you can rank currencies or alert when a bank widens its board.

USD at BOC and other banks in Sri Lanka

USD on the 8 boards AllRatesToday reads in Sri Lanka, all captured on 13 November 2026 (the Central Bank of Sri Lanka official rate was 332.5):

BOC had the 7th narrowest USD spread of the 8. One call to /api/v1/bank-rates/lk returns every board in the table at once.

Get the board (REST)

You need an API key; the free key works. The full board:

curl "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/bank-rates/lk/boc" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer art_live_your_key"

What comes back (the 13 November 2026 board, first three rows):

{
  "bank": "boc",
  "name": "Bank of Ceylon",
  "country": "lk",
  "quote_ccy": "LKR",
  "bank_updated_at": null,
  "basis": "Telegraphic transfer",
  "captured_at": "2026-11-13T13:34:38.401Z",
  "rates": [
    {"ccy":"AUD","buy":219.5493,"sell":233.0407,"mid":226.295,"spread_pct":5.962,"official":226.467,"vs_official_pct":-0.076},
    {"ccy":"CAD","buy":228.0321,"sell":238.7269,"mid":233.3795,"spread_pct":4.583,"official":233.2037,"vs_official_pct":0.075},
    {"ccy":"CHF","buy":389.5783,"sell":408.1823,"mid":398.8803,"spread_pct":4.664,"official":398.0627,"vs_official_pct":0.205},
    … 14 more currencies
  ],
  "disclaimer": "…",
  "attribution": { … }
}

One currency, with the row fields at the top level:

curl "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/bank-rates/lk/boc?ccy=USD" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer art_live_your_key"

{
  "bank": "boc",
  "name": "Bank of Ceylon",
  "country": "lk",
  "quote_ccy": "LKR",
  "bank_updated_at": null,
  "basis": "Telegraphic transfer",
  "captured_at": "2026-11-13T13:34:38.401Z",
  "ccy": "USD",
  "buy": 328,
  "sell": 337,
  "mid": 332.5,
  "spread_pct": 2.707,
  "official": 332.5018,
  "vs_official_pct": -0.001,
  "disclaimer": "Retail buy/sell rates as displayed on each bank’s own website at capture time, quoted as home currency per 1 unit of foreign currency. Indicative only: banks change these through the day, apply them at the counter or in-app, and they are not official or reference rates. For the rate a regulation names, use the central-bank endpoints.",
  "attribution": {
    "source": "Board rates published by Bank of Ceylon on its own website, collected by AllRatesToday",
    "bank_url": "https://www.boc.lk/index.php/rates-tariff",
    "url": "https://allratestoday.com/bank-exchange-rate-api/lk/boc/",
    "terms": "Public pages that show the rates need a visible link to allratestoday.com"
  }
}

The board as it stood on a past day:

curl "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/bank-rates/lk/boc?date=2026-11-06" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer art_live_your_key"

One currency over a date range, one row per day (paid plans; add &format=csv, xml or xlsx for a file):

curl "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/bank-rates/lk/boc/history?ccy=USD&from=2026-09-24&to=2026-11-13" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer art_live_your_key"

JavaScript

npm install @allratestoday/sdk

import { AllRatesToday } from '@allratestoday/sdk';

const client = new AllRatesToday({ apiKey: 'art_live_your_key' });

// Bank of Ceylon's USD row
const r = await client.bankRates('lk', { bank: 'boc', ccy: 'USD' });
console.log(`BOC buys USD at ${r.buy}, sells at ${r.sell} LKR`);

// The board as it stood on a past day
const past = await client.bankRates('lk', { bank: 'boc', date: '2026-11-06' });
console.log(past.snapshot_date, past.rates.length);

Python

import requests

r = requests.get(
    "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/bank-rates/lk/boc",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer art_live_your_key"},
    timeout=10,
)
r.raise_for_status()
for row in r.json()["rates"]:
    print(row["ccy"], row["buy"], row["sell"], row["spread_pct"])

Board rate or official rate?

The Central Bank of Sri Lanka rate is the one tax, accounting and customs rules in Sri Lanka name; nobody transacts at it. BOC's board is the price a customer actually gets. The API puts both on every row: official is the central bank's rate for the same currency and vs_official_pct is how far the bank's mid sits from it. Use the board to show customers a real price, compare banks for a remittance, or keep a dated record of what the bank quoted; use the Central Bank of Sri Lanka endpoint when a rule asks for the official rate.

FAQ

Where do the Bank of Ceylon rates come from?

From the bank's own public rates page (https://www.boc.lk/index.php/rates-tariff), read hourly. AllRatesToday does not change the numbers: each row is the buy and sell price BOC shows, with the mid, the spread and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka rate added.

Are these the official LKR exchange rates?

No. They are BOC's retail prices for customers. The official rate in Sri Lanka is the Central Bank of Sri Lanka rate, which the API returns as official on each row where the central bank has one, and in full from the central-bank endpoint.

How often is the BOC board updated?

AllRatesToday reads the page every hour. The bank prints no timestamp, so captured_at tells you when the rates were read.

Can I get BOC rates for a past date?

Yes, from 24 September 2026 onward; every day's board is kept permanently. Add ?date=YYYY-MM-DD for one day: the response is the board captured that day, or the nearest earlier day within five days, with date_requested and snapshot_date added. For a range, /history?ccy=USD&from=…&to=… returns one row per day as JSON, CSV, XML or XLSX on paid plans.

Do I need an API key?

Yes. Commercial bank boards need an API key; any plan works, the free key included, and each call counts against the plan. Public pages or widgets that show the rates need a visible link to allratestoday.com.