WhatsApp to charge businesses per message from October 1

WhatsApp to charge businesses per message from October 1
August 28, 2026 5:31 pm

Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, will begin charging businesses for certain messages sent through the WhatsApp Business Platform from October 1, 2026

Meta disclosed the pricing change in a WhatsApp Business Platform pricing update in July 2026, stating that charges for service messages would resume from October 1, 2026

The new charges will affect companies using the official WhatsApp Business Platform, formerly known as the WhatsApp Business API, to manage customer conversations at scale

Banks, fintechs, e-commerce companies, telecoms operators, logistics firms and large retailers that rely on the platform for customer service and transactional communication are among those that could be affected

However, the development will not affect ordinary WhatsApp users or most small businesses using the standard WhatsApp Business app on their phones

Under the current system, when a customer sends a message to a business, a 24-hour customer service window opens. During that period, businesses can respond with free-form service messages and certain utility messages without paying Meta

However, from October 1, Meta will begin charging businesses on a per-message basis for service messages sent during the customer service window

Meta, in its developer documentation, said, “Effective October 1, 2026, Meta will charge on a per-message basis for all service messages, consistent with how Meta charges for template messages. These messages have not been charged since November 1, 2024.”

The company added, “Effective October 1, 2026, Meta will charge on a per-message basis for utility messages sent in response to users (within an open 24-hour customer service window). These messages have not been charged since July 1, 2025.”

Utility messages include communications such as payment confirmations, order updates and delivery notifications

Meta also warned businesses and Solution Providers about the need to add a payment method ahead of the new charges

It said, “For any Solution Provider or directly-integrated businesses that does not have a payment method on file by September 30, 2026, Meta will stop delivering service messages as of when they become charged on October 1, 2026.”

For Nigerian businesses, a chargeable utility or service message is expected to cost about $0.0101 per message, equivalent to roughly ₦14 based on an exchange rate of about ₦1,340 to the dollar

Marketing messages are considerably more expensive, at about $0.062 per message, or approximately ₦84 at the same exchange rate

The charges are Meta’s fees and do not necessarily represent the total amount a business will pay. Companies using Business Solution Providers or third-party platforms to access the WhatsApp Business Platform may incur additional provider charges

For example, a Nigerian fintech sending 500,000 chargeable utility or service messages at $0.0101 per message would incur about $5,050 in Meta messaging fees alone

At an exchange rate of about ₦1,340 to the dollar, that amounts to approximately ₦6.8m, before any additional provider charges

Although the cost of an individual message appears relatively small, the financial impact could become significant for businesses sending hundreds of thousands or millions of messages each month

WhatsApp has become an important communication channel for Nigerian businesses, with banks and fintechs using the platform for customer support and transaction-related communication, while e-commerce, logistics and retail companies use it for order updates, delivery notifications and other customer interactions

Meta has been gradually changing its WhatsApp Business pricing structure, with the company moving business messaging towards a per-message pricing model

From October 1, 2026, previously free service messages and qualifying utility messages sent within an open 24-hour customer service window will become chargeable on the WhatsApp Business Platform

The development means Nigerian companies that depend heavily on WhatsApp for customer service and transactional communication will have to factor the new per-message charges into their operating costs from October

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Source: punchng.com