WhatsApp template category migration [reference article]

WhatsApp changed the existing model of two categories of conversations (user-initiated and business-initiated). As of April 1, the categories are four, namely:

• Service conversations (user-initiated): Any user-initiated conversation.
• Utility conversations (business-initiated): Conversations where the customer has opted-in to make a request or transaction and update an ongoing transaction, including post-sale notifications and billing.
• Marketing conversations (business-initiated): Conversations where customers have opted-in to receive promotions, offers, product updates, invitations, or alerts that trigger a customer action.
• Authentication conversations (business-initiated): Conversations where customers have opted-in to enable 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 the current prices. The new prices will be effective starting in June.

This is a reference article regarding the process of WhatsApp template categories migration and appeal.

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

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

Categorization appeals

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

Note that categorization appeals submitted through WhatsApp Manager will not affect a template’s status. If your template was already approved when you submitted an appeal, it will remain approved even if we reject your appeal (and it retains the category that WhatsApp assigned it).

For additional information and details, you can refer to the following document: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/updates-to-pricing/launch-timeline#first-template-category-migration

Remember to visit our Help Center for further information.

Written by: Botmaker Team

Updated: 4/12/2023