Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank Exchange Rate API: NPR Buy and Sell Rates as JSON

Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank is a national-level development bank in Nepal. Its forex page lists buying rates for small and large notes and a selling rate for about 21 currencies, with the rate date. This guide shows how to read that board as JSON: what the rates mean, how they compare with the Nepal Rastra Bank official rate and with other banks in Nepal, and the calls that return them.

What the Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank board shows

• 21 currencies against the Nepalese rupee: AED, AUD, BHD, CAD, CHF, CNY, DKK, EUR, GBP, HKD, INR, JPY, KRW, KWD, MYR, QAR, SAR, SEK, SGD, THB and USD. Every value is NPR per 1 unit of the foreign currency.
• The buy (notes of 50 and above) / sell pair. The Nepalese rupee is pegged to the Indian rupee at 1.6 per INR, so other currencies move with the rupee’s cross against INR. Nepal Rastra Bank sets official buying and selling rates each day, and commercial banks post their own boards around them, usually with separate cash and non-cash buying rates and one selling rate. The pair here is the non-cash buy and the sell where a bank prints one; Everest Bank and NMB Bank print only note buying rates, so their buy side is the rate for notes of 50 and above.
• USD on 15 November 2026: Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank bought at 150.4 and sold at 150.9 NPR, a spread of 0.33%. The Nepal Rastra Bank official rate was 150.78, so the bank's mid sat -0.09% from it.
• The bank's own timestamp. The page prints a last-updated stamp (2026-11-13 (Kathmandu) on the board above), returned as bank_updated_at next to our captured_at.
• Every day's board is kept permanently, from 13 November 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 15 November 2026 board the tightest spreads were INR (0.09%), USD (0.33%), KRW (0.89%) and the widest JPY (1.06%), QAR (0.99%), EUR (0.99%). 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 Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank and other banks in Nepal

USD on the 10 boards AllRatesToday reads in Nepal, all captured on 15 November 2026 (the Nepal Rastra Bank official rate was 150.78):

Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank had the narrowest USD spread of the 10. One call to /api/v1/bank-rates/np 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/np/mahalaxmi" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer art_live_your_key"

What comes back (the 15 November 2026 board, first three rows):

{
  "bank": "mahalaxmi",
  "name": "Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank",
  "country": "np",
  "quote_ccy": "NPR",
  "bank_updated_at": "2026-11-13 (Kathmandu)",
  "basis": "Buy (notes of 50 and above) / sell",
  "captured_at": "2026-11-15T11:16:00.067Z",
  "rates": [
    {"ccy":"AED","buy":40.71,"sell":41.11,"mid":40.91,"spread_pct":0.978,"official":41.05,"vs_official_pct":-0.341},
    {"ccy":"AUD","buy":101.67,"sell":102.67,"mid":102.17,"spread_pct":0.979,"official":102.93,"vs_official_pct":-0.738},
    {"ccy":"BHD","buy":397.21,"sell":401.1,"mid":399.155,"spread_pct":0.975,"official":399.84,"vs_official_pct":-0.171},
    … 18 more currencies
  ],
  "disclaimer": "…",
  "attribution": { … }
}

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

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

{
  "bank": "mahalaxmi",
  "name": "Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank",
  "country": "np",
  "quote_ccy": "NPR",
  "bank_updated_at": "2026-11-13 (Kathmandu)",
  "basis": "Buy (notes of 50 and above) / sell",
  "captured_at": "2026-11-15T11:16:00.067Z",
  "ccy": "USD",
  "buy": 150.4,
  "sell": 150.9,
  "mid": 150.65,
  "spread_pct": 0.332,
  "official": 150.78,
  "vs_official_pct": -0.086,
  "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 Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank on its own website, collected by AllRatesToday",
    "bank_url": "https://www.mahalaxmibank.com/forex",
    "url": "https://allratestoday.com/bank-exchange-rate-api/np/mahalaxmi/",
    "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/np/mahalaxmi?date=2026-11-13" \
  -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/np/mahalaxmi/history?ccy=USD&from=2026-11-13&to=2026-11-15" \
  -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' });

// Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank's USD row
const r = await client.bankRates('np', { bank: 'mahalaxmi', ccy: 'USD' });
console.log(`Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank buys USD at ${r.buy}, sells at ${r.sell} NPR`);

// The board as it stood on a past day
const past = await client.bankRates('np', { bank: 'mahalaxmi', date: '2026-11-13' });
console.log(past.snapshot_date, past.rates.length);

Python

import requests

r = requests.get(
    "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/bank-rates/np/mahalaxmi",
    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 Nepal Rastra Bank rate is the one tax, accounting and customs rules in Nepal name; nobody transacts at it. Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank'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 Nepal Rastra Bank endpoint when a rule asks for the official rate.

FAQ

Where do the Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank rates come from?

From the bank's own public rates page (https://www.mahalaxmibank.com/forex), read hourly. AllRatesToday does not change the numbers: each row is the buy and sell price Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank shows, with the mid, the spread and the Nepal Rastra Bank rate added.

Are these the official NPR exchange rates?

No. They are Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank's retail prices for customers. The official rate in Nepal is the Nepal Rastra Bank 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 Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank board updated?

AllRatesToday reads the page every hour. The bank's own last-updated stamp is returned as bank_updated_at, so you can tell a fresh read of an unchanged board from a new board.

Can I get Mahalaxmi Bikas Bank rates for a past date?

Yes, from 13 November 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.