Businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform will be charged per 24-hour conversation, with different rates by conversation category. Today’s business-initiated conversations will be split into three new categories: utility, authentication, and marketing. Today’s user-initiated conversations will be called service conversations.

There are three business-initiated conversation categories (all of which require customer opt-in):


Utility conversations: Facilitate a specific, agreed-upon request or transaction or update a customer about an ongoing transaction, including post-purchase notifications and recurring billing statements.

Authentication conversations: enable businesses to authenticate users with one-time passcodes, potentially at multiple steps in the login process (e.g., account verification, account recovery, integrity challenges).

Marketing conversations: include promotions or offers, informational updates, or invitations for customers to respond or take action. Any conversation that does not qualify as utility or authentication is a marketing conversation.

The fourth category is service conversations; all user-initiated conversations will be categorised as service conversations, which help customers resolve inquiries.