Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, has announced plans to introduce per-message charges for certain business communications on the WhatsApp Business Platform from October 1, 2026.
Under the new policy, businesses will be charged for service messages as well as utility messages sent in response to customers within an open 24-hour customer-service window.
Meta said the charges would bring the messages in line with its existing pricing model for template messages.
“Effective October 1, 2026, Meta will charge on a per-message basis for all service messages,” the company said in a notice to businesses. It added that utility messages sent in response to users within an open 24-hour customer-service window would also become chargeable.
Service messages are non-template responses sent by businesses after customers initiate conversations, while utility messages typically cover transactional communications such as payment confirmations, account updates, order confirmations and delivery notifications.
Although the 24-hour customer-service window will remain in place, businesses will no longer be able to send free service messages after the applicable period under the new pricing structure.
The charges will affect businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform, formerly known as the WhatsApp Business API, which enables companies to manage customer communications at scale.
Banks, fintech companies, telecommunications operators, e-commerce platforms and other businesses that rely heavily on WhatsApp for customer support and automated communications are among those expected to be affected.
Meta has yet to publish the final rates for the new charges. However, existing pricing references indicate that utility-type messages sent to Nigerian numbers could cost around $0.0101 per message, equivalent to approximately N13.50 based on an exchange rate of N1,337 to the dollar as of August 28, 2026.
Businesses have been advised to confirm the applicable rates once Meta releases its October pricing schedule.
The company has also warned businesses and solution providers to ensure that valid payment methods are linked to their accounts before the new charges take effect.
Meta said businesses without a payment method on file by September 30 would have their service messages blocked once the charges become effective on October 1.
The latest development is part of Meta’s broader move towards per-message pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform. Service messages had been free since November 2024, while utility messages sent within an open customer-service window were free from July 2025.
