Abstract In order to describe charge exchange reactions at intermediate energies, we implemented as a first step the formulation of the normal eikonal approach. The calculated differential cross-sections based on this approach deviated significantly from the conventional DWBA calculations for CE reactions at 140 MeV/nucleon. Thereafter, improvements were made in the application of the eikonal approximation so as to keep a strict three-dimensional form factor. The results obtained with the improved eikonal approach are in good agreement with the DWBA calculations and with the experimental data. Since the improved eikonal approach can be formulated in a microscopic way, it is easy to apply to CE reactions at higher energies, where the phenomenological DWBA is a priori difficult to use due to the lack, in most cases, of the required phenomenological potentials.