Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, will begin charging businesses for customer-service messages sent through the WhatsApp Business Platform from October 1, 2026, in a move expected to increase communication costs for companies that rely heavily on the platform.
Under the new policy, Meta will charge businesses on a per-message basis for service messages and utility messages sent in response to users within an open 24-hour customer-service window.
The company announced the changes in a notice on its WhatsApp Business Platform, saying the charges will bring the messages in line with its existing per-message pricing for template messages.
“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.
Meta added that utility messages sent in response to users within an open 24-hour customer-service window would also become chargeable from the same date.
Service messages are non-template replies sent by businesses after customers initiate conversations, while utility messages 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 once the window closes.
The new charges will apply to businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform, formerly known as the WhatsApp Business API, which allows companies to manage customer communications and automated messages at scale.
Banks, fintech companies, telecommunications operators, e-commerce platforms and other businesses that use WhatsApp for customer support and automated communications are among those likely to be affected.
Meta has yet to publish the specific rates for the new charges. However, current pricing references indicate that utility-type messages to Nigerian numbers cost around $0.0101 per message, equivalent to approximately N13.5 based on an official exchange rate of N1,337 to the dollar as of August 28, 2026.
Businesses are expected to confirm the applicable October rates once Meta releases its final rate card.
The company has also warned businesses and solution providers to ensure that a valid payment method is linked to their accounts before the charges take effect.
Meta said businesses and solution providers without a payment method on file by September 30 could have their service messages stopped once the new charges take effect on October 1.
The move marks another step in Meta’s shift towards per-message pricing on the WhatsApp Business Platform. Utility messages within an open customer-service window had been free since July 2025, while service messages had been free since November 2024.
