Why Updating RateBoards Manually No Longer Makes Sense
Manual RateBoards slow businesses down—real-time, centrally controlled RateBoards keep rates accurate, consistent, and trusted across every branch.
Founder & CTO
- 4 mins read
- 03 Feb, 2026
In places like currency exchange branches, speed and accuracy aren’t just technical requirements—they shape customer trust. When a rate changes, customers expect the screen in front of them to reflect it immediately. Any delay, even by a minute or two, raises questions.
Yet many RateBoard systems still rely on manual refreshes, delayed syncs, and fragmented update processes. Over time, this creates operational friction and inconsistent experiences across branches. We recently worked through this exact problem and redesigned the way RateBoards function—turning them into real-time, centrally controlled displays that update in under 60 seconds
Why Manual RateBoards Don’t Scale
On the surface, a RateBoard looks simple: show exchange rates and promotions on a screen. But behind the scenes, things often get messy. When updates depend on manual intervention or delayed syncs, a few problems quickly show up:
- Currency reorder changes made centrally don’t reflect immediately at branch locations
- Promotional images and videos appear at different times across branches
- Rate updates from the source system miss the expected 60-second window
- Staff end up refreshing displays manually, increasing the chance of errors
Individually, these may seem minor. Together, they erode consistency, increase operational effort, and weaken customer confidence.
Rethinking the RateBoard as a Real-Time System
Instead of treating the RateBoard as a static display, we approached it as a live system—one that reacts instantly to business changes. The idea was straightforward:
- One centralized control point
- No manual refreshes
- Automatic updates across all branches
- Near real-time visibility of currency rates and promotions
This shift in thinking laid the foundation for a more reliable and scalable setup.
Centralized Control That Business Teams Can Actually Use
At the core of the system is a centralized Back Office designed for day-to-day business operations. From a single interface, users can:
- Manage branches and user access
- Reorder currencies based on business priorities
- Upload and schedule promotional images or videos
- Control update behavior and track changes through audit logs
Every action is written instantly to a PostgreSQL database, ensuring consistency and eliminating ambiguity around “which version is live.”
Making Updates Happen in Real Time
The real challenge wasn’t storing the data—it was pushing changes to screens fast and reliably. To solve this, we used Server-Sent Events (SSE) to create a continuous update channel between the system and the RateBoard displays. Here’s what happens behind the scenes:
- The system checks for data changes every 30 seconds using timestamp-based detection
- Currency rates are pulled from the source system through APIs
- Any change is immediately pushed to the relevant branch displays
- Screens refresh automatically as soon as updates are received
The result: end-to-end updates consistently land on displays in under 60 seconds, without anyone needing to touch the screen.
Designing the RateBoard for Large Displays
The RateBoard application itself was built using React, optimized specifically for TV-sized screens in branch environments. It handles:
- Live currency rate updates with seamless refresh
- Smooth rotation of advertisements and promotional content
- Branch-specific configurations without duplication
- Continuous updates triggered by real-time events
For customers, this creates a clean, modern display that always feels current. For operations teams, it removes an entire layer of manual work.
What This Change Really Delivers
Moving from manual updates to a real-time RateBoard isn’t just a technical upgrade—it changes how teams operate. The shift resulted in:
- Faster, consistent updates across all branches
- Fewer errors caused by manual refreshes
- Better control over live promotions and messaging
- Higher trust in the accuracy of displayed rates
- A smoother experience for both staff and customers
Closure
What made the biggest difference wasn’t adding complexity—it was choosing the right architecture. By combining centralized control with event-driven updates, the RateBoard evolved into a system that’s responsive, reliable, and easy to manage.
At 10decoders, this approach reflects how we think about modern systems: build once, control centrally, and let real-time updates do the heavy lifting—quietly, accurately, and fast.
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