WhatsApp changed the existing model of two conversation categories (initiated by the user and initiated by the business). Starting from April 1, 2023, there are now four categories:

• Service Conversations (initiated by the user): Any conversation initiated by the user.

• Utility Conversations (initiated by the business): Conversations where the customer has opted to make a request or transaction and update an ongoing transaction, including post-sale notifications and billing.

• Marketing Conversations (initiated by the business): Conversations where customers have opted to receive promotions, offers, product updates, invitations, or alerts that trigger customer action.

• Authentication Conversations (initiated by the business): Conversations where customers have opted to allow the business to authenticate users with a one-time key, potentially in a multi-step login process (such as account verification or recovery).

These new categories will be required for template approval starting April 1 at current prices. New pricing will take effect from June onwards.

This is a reference article on the migration and appeal process for WhatsApp template categories.

WhatsApp will assign a new template category to all existing templates based on template content and WhatsApp template guidelines. This process only affects the template category. It does not affect the template status and will not impact pricing until June 1, 2023.

You can view migration results in the WhatsApp Manager panel > Account Tools > Message Templates by clicking the "See all updates" button in the Alerts banner.

Appeals for Categorization

If you disagree with the category assigned by WhatsApp to a specific template, you can use the migration results window to appeal the categorization until May 15, 2023. To appeal, in the migration results window, select each template you wish to appeal, click on the "Edit category" button, and then complete the flow.

Please note that categorization appeals submitted through WhatsApp Manager will not affect the status of a template. If your template was already approved at the time of appeal submission, it will remain approved even if your appeal is rejected (and will retain the category assigned by WhatsApp).

For more information and details, you can refer to the following document: WhatsApp Updates to Pricing Launch Timeline - First Template Category Migration

Remember to visit our Help Center for more information.

Written By: Botmaker Team

Updated: 07/05/2024