Zambia National Commercial Bank (Zanaco) Exchange Rate API: ZMW Buy and Sell Rates as JSON

Zanaco (Zambia National Commercial Bank) is Zambia’s largest bank by customers, listed on the Lusaka Securities Exchange. Its home page lists buying and selling rates in kwacha for five currencies. This guide shows how to read that board as JSON: what the rates mean, how they compare with the Bank of Zambia official rate and with other banks in Zambia, and the calls that return them.

What the Zanaco board shows

• 5 currencies against the Zambian kwacha: CNY, EUR, GBP, USD and ZAR. Every value is ZMW per 1 unit of the foreign currency.
• The exchange rates (buy / sell) pair. The kwacha floats; banks print a selling rate and separate telegraphic-transfer and note buying rates. The rates here are the transfer buy against the sell. The Bank of Zambia official rate is shown next to each row.
• USD on 15 November 2026: Zanaco bought at 20.2728 and sold at 20.6174 ZMW, a spread of 1.69%. The Bank of Zambia official rate was 20.4652, so the bank's mid sat -0.10% from it.
• No timestamp on the bank's page. Zanaco 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 15 November 2026, the day collection started. 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 ZAR (1.68%), CNY (1.68%), USD (1.69%) and the widest GBP (1.69%), EUR (1.69%), USD (1.69%). 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 Zanaco and other banks in Zambia

USD on the 3 boards AllRatesToday reads in Zambia, all captured on 15 November 2026 (the Bank of Zambia official rate was 20.4652):

Zanaco had the narrowest USD spread of the 3. One call to /api/v1/bank-rates/zm 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/zm/zanaco" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer art_live_your_key"

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

{
  "bank": "zanaco",
  "name": "Zambia National Commercial Bank (Zanaco)",
  "country": "zm",
  "quote_ccy": "ZMW",
  "bank_updated_at": null,
  "basis": "Exchange rates (buy / sell)",
  "captured_at": "2026-11-15T11:16:13.377Z",
  "rates": [
    {"ccy":"CNY","buy":3.038,"sell":3.0896,"mid":3.0638,"spread_pct":1.684,"official":3.0672,"vs_official_pct":-0.111},
    {"ccy":"EUR","buy":22.4217,"sell":22.8029,"mid":22.6123,"spread_pct":1.686,"official":null,"vs_official_pct":null},
    {"ccy":"GBP","buy":26.8422,"sell":27.2985,"mid":27.07035,"spread_pct":1.686,"official":null,"vs_official_pct":null},
    … 2 more currencies
  ],
  "disclaimer": "…",
  "attribution": { … }
}

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

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

{
  "bank": "zanaco",
  "name": "Zambia National Commercial Bank (Zanaco)",
  "country": "zm",
  "quote_ccy": "ZMW",
  "bank_updated_at": null,
  "basis": "Exchange rates (buy / sell)",
  "captured_at": "2026-11-15T11:16:13.377Z",
  "ccy": "USD",
  "buy": 20.2728,
  "sell": 20.6174,
  "mid": 20.4451,
  "spread_pct": 1.685,
  "official": 20.4652,
  "vs_official_pct": -0.098,
  "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 Zambia National Commercial Bank (Zanaco) on its own website, collected by AllRatesToday",
    "bank_url": "https://www.zanaco.co.zm/",
    "url": "https://allratestoday.com/bank-exchange-rate-api/zm/zanaco/",
    "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/zm/zanaco?date=2026-11-15" \
  -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/zm/zanaco/history?ccy=USD&from=2026-11-15&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' });

// Zambia National Commercial Bank (Zanaco)'s USD row
const r = await client.bankRates('zm', { bank: 'zanaco', ccy: 'USD' });
console.log(`Zanaco buys USD at ${r.buy}, sells at ${r.sell} ZMW`);

// The board as it stood on a past day
const past = await client.bankRates('zm', { bank: 'zanaco', date: '2026-11-15' });
console.log(past.snapshot_date, past.rates.length);

Python

import requests

r = requests.get(
    "https://allratestoday.com/api/v1/bank-rates/zm/zanaco",
    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 Bank of Zambia rate is the one tax, accounting and customs rules in Zambia name; nobody transacts at it. Zanaco'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 Bank of Zambia endpoint when a rule asks for the official rate.

FAQ

Where do the Zambia National Commercial Bank (Zanaco) rates come from?

From the bank's own public rates page (https://www.zanaco.co.zm/), read hourly. AllRatesToday does not change the numbers: each row is the buy and sell price Zanaco shows, with the mid, the spread and the Bank of Zambia rate added.

Are these the official ZMW exchange rates?

No. They are Zanaco's retail prices for customers. The official rate in Zambia is the Bank of Zambia 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 Zanaco 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 Zanaco rates for a past date?

Yes, from 15 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.