United Kingdom

Before you start sending SMS messages to the United Kingdom, please ensure that you understand the regulations around messaging in the country. All programs are required to be compliant with the applicable laws. Please contact our support team if you are unsure about any of these regulations.

Restriction

Description

DND exists

Time restrictions

International vs local split

Local traffic

N/A

International traffic

N/A

General content restrictions

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Content registration required

Restrictions:

All URLs must be whitelisted.
URL shorteners cannot be whitelisted. This rule is in force as spammers tend to use shorteners heavily.
No URL redirects - URL should link directly to a fully visible page.
Service legitimacy check: A check of the website is performed to conclude if the service is legitimate - all URLs to misleading pages will be rejected.

Service related to loans/financial services:

We need the exact sender ID that will be used, and it must be related to the website/company name.
Operators consider it spam if there is a mismatch between the sender ID and the service.

Opt-out instructions required

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Sender ID regulations

Dynamic alpha is supported, however, please be aware that certain sender ID registration will become mandatory in the near future.

Changes to Sender IDs effective 3 July 2023:

Numeric Sender IDs

Long numbers: Anything other than “+44xxxxx” will be blocked	Select and purchase a United Kingdom long number
Short Codes: Five digits starting with 6/7/8 will be permitted. All other short codes will be blocked	Apply for a United Kingdom short code

AlphaNumeric Sender IDs

Alpha sender IDs with certain special characters will be blocked

Examples: @, $,#

Permitted special characters for an alpha/alphanumeric sender (max length of 11 digits)

A to Z (uppercase)
a to z (lowercase)
0-9 (numeric)

Special Characters:

' ' (space)
'.' (full stop)
'&' (ampersand)
'_' (underscore)
'-' (dash/hyphen)

Brand Names are Permitted; however Generic Sender IDs will be blocked

Generic Sender ID examples: “SMS”, “INFO”, or “Alert”

See table below for generic terms that will be blocked.

Sender ID documentation required

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Country supports MNP

Yes

Including these generic terms as part of your sender ID is likely to block messages.

2FA	Accept	Access	Active	Alert
App	Appointment	Approved	Auth	Aware
Bank	Banking	Call	Card	Caution
Code	Confirm	Contact	Control	Delivery
Energy	Fraud	Help	Info	Loan
Login	Logistics	Message	Mobile	MSG
Network	Notify	Order	OTP	Parcel
Pay	Payment	Pin	Rebate	Receipt
Reminder	Reply	Schedule	Secure	Shipping
SMS	Support	Text	Trace	TXT
Update	Verify	Winner