Meta, WhatsApp’s parent company, will begin charging businesses for certain messages sent through WhatsApp Business Platform starting October 1, 2026.
The company announced the pricing change in a WhatsApp Business Platform update published in July 2026.
Under the new system, businesses will pay about N14 per qualified utility service or message sent through the platform.
The charges will apply to businesses that use the official WhatsApp Business platform, formerly known as WhatsApp Business API, to manage customer conversations at scale.
Among those who will be affected are banks, fintechs, e-commerce companies, telecom operators, logistics companies and large retailers that use the platform for customer service and transaction-related communication.
However, the new charges will not affect ordinary WhatsApp users or the majority of small businesses that use the standard WhatsApp Business app on their phones.
Currently, when a customer sends a message to a company, a 24-hour customer service window opens. During this period, companies can respond with free-form service messages and certain utility messages without paying Meta.
However, starting October 1, Meta will charge businesses per message for service messages sent during the customer support period.
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Meta said in its developer documentation: “Starting October 1, 2026, Meta will charge per message 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: “Starting October 1, 2026, Meta will charge per message for utility messages sent in response to users (within a 24-hour open customer service period). These messages have not been charged since July 1, 2025.”
Helpful messages include payment confirmations, order updates, and delivery notifications.
Meta also warned businesses and solution providers to add a payment method before the new charges take effect.
It said: “For any solution providers or directly integrated companies that do not have a payment method on file by September 30, 2026, Meta will stop delivering service messages from the time they are charged on October 1, 2026.”
For Nigerian businesses, a chargeable service or service message is expected to cost about $0.0101, equivalent to about N14 based on an exchange rate of about N1.340 to the dollar.
Marketing messages will cost more, around $0.062 per message, or about N84 using the same exchange rate.
The charges are Meta fees and do not necessarily represent the total amount a business will pay. Businesses that use business solution providers or third-party platforms to access the WhatsApp business platform may also face additional charges.
For example, a Nigerian fintech sending 500,000 service or utility messages charged at $0.0101 per message would pay around $5,050 in meta-messaging fees alone.
At an exchange rate of 1,340 naira to the dollar, this is equivalent to approximately 6.8 million naira, excluding additional supplier charges.
Although the cost per message is relatively small, the charges could significantly increase operating costs for companies that send hundreds of thousands or millions of messages each month.
WhatsApp has become an important communication channel for Nigerian businesses, with banks and fintech companies using it for customer service and transaction-related communication.
E-commerce, logistics, and retail companies also use the platform for order updates, delivery notifications, and other customer interactions.
The new pricing is part of Meta’s broader changes to WhatsApp Business, with the company gradually moving business messaging toward a per-message pricing model.
Starting October 1, previously free service messages and qualified utility messages sent within a 24-hour open customer service period will be charged on WhatsApp Business Platform.
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