When the rate applies
A delivered authentication template message is subject to the authentication-international rate when all of these conditions are met:- The recipient’s country calling code belongs to a market with an authentication-international rate.
- Meta has determined that your business is eligible.
- Your business is based in a different country from the recipient market.
- The message is delivered on or after your business’s start time for that market.
Applicable markets
Authentication-international rates apply in 18 markets following the October 1, 2026 expansion. Existing markets:
Markets added on October 1, 2026:
These nine additions are included in the October 1, 2026 pricing update. The market launch date does not replace your business-specific eligibility and start-time rules. Check the applicable date for each market in Meta’s eligibility notice.
Check Meta’s rate cards for the current markets and rates. For your applicable YCloud charges, use YCloud pricing or your agreement.
How Meta determines eligibility
Meta deems your business eligible when it sends more than 750,000 messages outside customer service windows in a moving 30-day period, across all of its WhatsApp Business Accounts, to unique WhatsApp users whose country calling codes belong to markets with authentication-international rates. This is a business-wide assessment across accounts, rather than a separate threshold for each sending phone number. The period moves continuously; it is not a calendar month. Once you qualify, Meta:- Sets start times 30 days after the eligibility date for the applicable markets.
- Attempts to determine your primary business location from publicly available information.
- Sends an eligibility email with the market-specific start times and the primary business location, if determined.
Eligibility is permanent. Reducing message volume later does not remove it. The rate still depends on the recipient market, primary business location, and start time for each delivery.
Start times and country exceptions
Start times are specific to your business and the destination country. Meta provides 30 days’ notice before authentication-international pricing starts. Use the delivery time to determine whether the start time has been reached. An earlier submission time alone does not establish which rate applies. Applicable countries normally share a start date, but your eligibility email can specify a different start time for an exception country. Check each market’s date before estimating costs. A country-specific start-time exception does not override the domestic treatment for your verified primary business location. For example, if your verified location is Indonesia, authentication messages delivered to +62 numbers use the domestic authentication rate even if Indonesia appears among the start-time exceptions.How primary business location is determined
Your primary business location is the country where your business is based. When you submit a location, Meta asks for the country where your business has its headquarters and maintains its bookkeeping records. Meta considers publicly available information, including where your business is publicly traded or listed and its corporate structure, such as where a parent company is based or listed. This is not simply a choice of the country with the preferred rate. Meta assesses the location when your business becomes eligible and when you edit the location in Meta Business Manager. The process can take up to 3 business days.
Meta includes the initial location outcome in the eligibility email. If you edit the location, Meta sends a separate email with the review outcome. Need more information is a possible review outcome; the Business Manager field displays Verified, Pending verification, or Rejected.
Set or update your primary business location
Use this process if the location is missing, Meta requests more information, a submission is rejected, or you disagree with the country Meta determined:- Open Meta Business Settings for the relevant business.
- Under Primary Business Location, select or enter the country where your business has its headquarters and maintains its bookkeeping records.
- Select Next.
- Answer the on-screen questions so Meta can verify the location.
- Select Next, then Submit for review.
- Allow up to 3 business days for review. Check the field status and Meta’s email for the result.
You cannot make further changes while verification is under review. Submitting a new country does not itself establish a verified location or reset your eligibility start times.
What this means for your costs
- Plan by recipient market. Use the authentication-international rate for affected deliveries after each market’s start time, rather than applying the standard authentication rate everywhere.
- Verify your location before the start time. An unverified location can result in authentication-international pricing even for recipients in the country you consider your home market.
- Review the impact of a location update. A verified location determines which market receives domestic authentication treatment. Other listed markets remain subject to the eligibility and start-time rules.
- Keep your eligibility notice. It records the dates you need to reconcile a change in authentication costs. Lower volume does not reverse eligibility.
Same-country example: Your verified primary business location is India, and you send an authentication template to a +91 (India) recipient. India has an authentication-international rate, your business is eligible, and delivery occurs after India’s start time. The message still uses the standard authentication rate because your verified primary business location and the recipient market are the same. Eligibility does not override this domestic treatment.
For example, an eligible business verified in Indonesia uses the domestic authentication rate for +62 recipients. The same business uses India’s authentication-international rate for +91 recipients after its India start time. Being based outside all listed markets does not exempt a business from authentication-international pricing.