Meta has updated the way WhatsApp Business messaging is priced, splitting conversations into utility, marketing, authentication and service categories. The change affects how merchants plan follow-up messages after the 24-hour customer service window.
What changes for merchants
Messages you send outside the free reply window now carry a category and a cost. Utility messages tied to an order usually cost less than marketing messages, which makes behaviour-based automation worth reviewing.
What to do now
Audit your templates, confirm which category each one maps to, and keep promotional sends limited to customers who opted in.