Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, will begin charging businesses for customer-service messages sent through the WhatsApp Business Platform from October 1, 2026.
The company said the new pricing would also cover utility messages sent in response to customers within an open 24-hour customer-service window.
The development means businesses that rely on WhatsApp for customer support and other communications will begin incurring costs on messages that were previously free.
In a notice to users of the WhatsApp Business Platform, Meta said it would introduce per-message charges for service messages from October 1.
“Effective October 1, 2026, Meta will charge on a per-message basis for all service messages, consistent with how Meta charges for template messages,” the company said.
It said the messages had not been charged since November 1, 2024.
Meta also said utility messages sent in response to users within an open 24-hour customer-service window would become chargeable from the same date.
It said such messages had been free since July 1, 2025.
Service messages are non-template replies sent by businesses after customers initiate conversations, while utility messages are transactional communications such as payment confirmations, account updates, order confirmations and delivery notifications.
The 24-hour customer-service window will remain in place under the new arrangement, but businesses will no longer be able to send free service messages once the window closes.
The charges will apply to businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform, formerly known as the WhatsApp Business API, which is designed for companies that handle customer communications on a large scale.
The affected businesses include banks, fintech companies, telecommunications operators, e-commerce platforms and other firms that use WhatsApp for customer service and automated communications.
Although Meta has not announced the specific rates that will apply from October, current pricing references indicate that utility-type messages sent to Nigerian numbers cost about $0.0101 per message.
At an exchange rate of N1,337 to the dollar, that would be about N13.5 per message, although businesses will have to confirm the applicable October rate when Meta releases its final rate card.
The new charges could increase operating costs for companies that send large volumes of customer-service messages through the platform.
Meta has also warned businesses and solution providers to ensure that a valid payment method is linked to their accounts before the charges take effect.
The company said businesses without a payment method on file by September 30 would have their service messages blocked once the new charges became effective.
“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,” it said.
The latest policy is part of Meta’s wider shift towards per-message pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform.
The company introduced charges for some categories of business messages in previous phases, with utility messages within an open customer-service window becoming free from July 2025 and service messages remaining free since November 2024.
