Starting on May 29th 2023, due to recent changes by WhatsApp, all newly created WhatsApp authentication templates will temporarily not be approved. Any authentication templates submitted during this pause will automatically go into a rejected state.

WhatsApp requires new authentication templates to include one-time password (OTP) buttons in order to be approved. These new authentication templates must also follow the format predetermined by WhatsApp (please see link above for details) and cannot be edited by the business.

Authentication templates submitted on the WhatsApp templates page, as well as those submitted via our Content API or Content Editor products will temporarily not be approved starting May 29.

All existing approved authentication templates created prior to May 29th (legacy authentication templates) can continue to be used to send messages through July, but all will need to eventually be migrated to the new authentication templates. Legacy authentication templates that contain URLs, emoji, or media will need to be updated before September 1st. Legacy authentication templates that do not contain URLs, emoji, or media will be to be updated before Oct. 2nd.

We know how important authentication templates are for our customers, therefore we are working on supporting these new WhatsApp requirements as quickly as possible. We appreciate your patience and will update this article and our Programmable Messaging changelog as soon as we have support for the new authentication template format.