Twilio Brand Registration: What
We Need From You.
Before your business can text anyone from a normal 10-digit number, the carriers require it to be registered. This is that registration.
About five minutes of your time. We handle the submission, the follow-up and any resubmission. Most brands are approved in one to three business days.
Get one thing right and this is easy
Nearly every rejection comes down to a legal business name that does not exactly match IRS records. Not close. Exactly, punctuation, spacing, and whether “LLC” has a comma before it.
The next section is how to find the authoritative version. Spend two minutes there and the rest of this is paperwork.
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Why this exists
Since 2021, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile have required every business sending messages from a standard 10-digit number to register the business behind it. The framework is called A2P 10DLC, application-to-person messaging over 10-digit long codes.
It is not Twilio’s rule and it is not ours. Twilio is where the paperwork gets filed; the carriers are who decides.
What happens without it
- Messages get blocked at the carrier before they reach a phone
- Or delivered inconsistently, which is worse. You think it is working
- Heavy filtering as suspected spam
- The number can be suspended
There is no version of this where you skip it and send anyway. Unregistered traffic on a 10-digit number is simply blocked.
The one thing that decides whether this works
Your legal business name and EIN are checked against IRS records automatically. A single character off and it fails.
Most business owners give us the name they use. What the carriers check is the name the IRS has. Those are often not the same thing, and the difference is usually invisible until the rejection arrives.
| What people send us | What the IRS actually has |
|---|---|
| Dave’s Plumbing | DAVES PLUMBING LLC |
| Waterford Roofing, LLC | WATERFORD ROOFING LLC |
| Smith & Sons Heating | SMITH AND SONS HEATING INC |
| The Corner Cafe | CORNER CAFE ENTERPRISES LLC |
Where to find the authoritative version
- Your CP-575 letterThe EIN confirmation letter the IRS sent when you got your EIN. This is the definitive source. Look for it in your formation paperwork or your accountant’s files.
- Lost it? Request a 147C letterCall the IRS Business and Specialty Tax line and ask for a “147C letter.” It is free, it is a replacement EIN verification, and they can fax or mail it. Expect to be on hold.
- Fastest route: ask your accountantThey file under it every year. One email and you have it, usually the same day.
- Cross-check your state filingMichigan’s LARA business entity search shows your registered name. Useful, but the IRS record is what gets checked, if the two disagree, go with the IRS.
Send us the exact string, including the punctuation
If your CP-575 says DAVES PLUMBING LLC with no apostrophe and no comma, that is what we submit. It does not matter what your sign says, what your website says, or what looks right. The match is mechanical.
What to send us
Copy this, fill it in, send it back. That is the whole ask.
LEGAL BUSINESS NAME, exactly as on your CP-575
EIN, nine digits
BUSINESS TYPE. LLC / Corporation / Sole Proprietor / Partnership / Non-profit
INDUSTRY, e.g. Home Services, Healthcare, Professional Services
REGISTERED ADDRESS, street, city, state, ZIP. No PO boxes.
BUSINESS PHONE, a working number someone answers
BUSINESS EMAIL, where registration notices should go
WEBSITE URL
PRIVACY POLICY URL
TERMS URL, if you have one
What we will never ask you for
- Your Social Security number, in almost every case
- Bank details
- Any login or password
- A DUNS number or stock ticker
The information goes to The Campaign Registry, which is the industry body the carriers use. We do not keep a copy beyond the build.
Your website has to pass three checks
A human at the registry may look at your site. This is where the second-most-common rejection comes from, and it is entirely fixable in advance.
Same business name, same address, same phone as the registration. A parked domain, a “coming soon” page or a site that 404s will fail.
If your site is not live yet: tell us, and we register the brand after launch rather than before. We would rather wait a week than eat a rejection.
This is the one that catches people. A generic privacy policy is not enough, carriers want it to address mobile messaging specifically, and in particular to state clearly that mobile opt-in data and phone numbers are not sold or shared with third parties for their own marketing.
What to do: tell us if yours does not cover it. We will tell you exactly what it needs to address so your attorney can add it, and it has to actually be true of how you operate, which for us is a given and should be for you too.
Not always required at brand level, but it helps, and it will be needed for campaign registration. If you do not have terms, we can point you at what needs covering.
What happens after you send it
Submitted, then waiting. Here is what each stage actually takes.
- We submit the brandSame day, usually within a couple of hours of receiving your details.
- The registry checks your name and EIN against IRS recordsAutomated, and usually fast, often minutes, sometimes a day or two.
- Your brand gets a trust scoreThis decides how many messages a day you can send. More on it below.
- Then we register your campaignA separate step, separate approval, separate fee. Brand registration alone does not let you send anything. It just establishes who you are. That is the next guide.
| Stage | Typical |
|---|---|
| Your time to gather the details | About 5 minutes, longer if you have to find the CP-575 |
| Brand approval | Often same day, up to about 5 business days |
| Campaign approval, after the brand | Longer, and it varies a lot by use case |
| How long the brand lasts | It does not expire. Re-register only if your business details change materially. |
Trust score, and what actually moves it
Once your brand is verified, the registry assigns a score. That score sets your daily message throughput to each carrier, how many texts you can send in a day before they stop going out.
Most established businesses with an EIN land in a range that is comfortably more than a local service business will ever use. If you are sending appointment reminders and follow-ups to your own customers, throughput will not be your constraint.
What helps
- A real EIN rather than a sole-proprietor registration
- Business details that match IRS and state records exactly
- A live website that matches the registered business
- Time, an established entity scores better than one registered last month
What does not
- Paying more, generally, though optional external vetting exists and can raise a low score
- Anything you can do to your website in an afternoon
If your score comes back lower than expected, we will tell you what it means in practical terms, usually nothing, sometimes a reason to consider external vetting. We will not sell you vetting you do not need.
If you do not have an EIN
Sole proprietors can register, but it is a genuinely different and more limited path.
| What changes | With an EIN | Sole proprietor |
|---|---|---|
| Daily message limits | Standard tiers, comfortable for most local businesses | Substantially lower |
| Verification | Name and EIN against IRS records | Includes a one-time code sent to your mobile, which you have to give us |
| Use cases allowed | The normal range | More restricted |
| Number of campaigns | Multiple | Typically one |
Our honest recommendation
If you plan to send any real volume, get an EIN first. It is free from the IRS, the online application takes about ten minutes, and you get the number immediately. You do not have to change your business structure to have one, a sole proprietor can hold an EIN.
Doing that before we register is far less painful than registering as a sole proprietor, hitting the limits, and starting over.
What it costs
These are carrier and registry fees, billed through your own Twilio account. We do not mark them up. We do not touch them at all.
| Fee | Roughly | When |
|---|---|---|
| Brand registration | $4 | One time. Does not expire. |
| Campaign registration | varies by use case | One-time vetting plus a recurring monthly fee, both set by the registry |
| External vetting, optional | higher | Only if a low score is genuinely limiting you. We will tell you if it is. |
| Per-message and number fees | Twilio’s rates | Ongoing, on your Twilio bill |
Registry and carrier fees change from time to time. We will tell you the current numbers before anything is submitted, and they appear on your Twilio invoice, not ours.
Why registrations get rejected
In order of how often it happens. Every one of these is preventable, which is why this page is long.
By far the most common. An apostrophe, a comma, “and” instead of “&”, a missing “LLC”, or the trading name instead of the registered one.
Prevent it: use the CP-575. Nothing else counts.
Two digits swapped. It happens constantly and the check is exact.
Prevent it: copy and paste from the document rather than typing it.
A new address that was never updated with the IRS, or a PO box where a street address is required.
Prevent it: send the registered address, even if it is your home and you would rather it were not. It is not published on your website.
A parked domain, a placeholder page, or a site showing a different business name and phone number.
Prevent it: register after launch. We will sequence it that way if we know.
Present but generic, or missing the statement about not sharing mobile opt-in data with third parties.
Prevent it: tell us before we submit and we will tell you what it needs to cover.
If it does get rejected, nothing is lost. We find out why, fix it, and resubmit, usually within a day. Rejections are annoying rather than expensive, and they are part of why we handle this rather than handing you a Twilio login and wishing you luck.
Straight answers
The questions that come up every time a brand goes through review.
Why do you need my EIN?
Because the carriers check your business name against IRS records and the EIN is the key. It goes to The Campaign Registry, which is the industry body the carriers use, and it is not something we retain or share.
Is my information safe?
It goes to the registry through Twilio and nowhere else. We do not sell it, share it, or keep a copy beyond the build. If you would rather send the EIN by phone than email, call and we will take it that way.
Does this expire?
No. Once approved, your brand stays registered. You would only re-register if your legal name, EIN or entity type changed materially, if that happens, tell us, because sending under a stale registration causes problems.
Can I send texts while this is pending?
Not from a 10-digit number, no. Unregistered traffic is blocked or heavily filtered. Wait for approval, sending into a block wastes messages and does your number’s reputation no favors.
Do I need this if I only text a handful of customers?
Yes. The requirement is about the type of traffic, not the volume. Business-to-consumer messaging from a 10-digit number needs registration whether it is ten a day or ten thousand.
What about texting from my personal phone?
Different thing entirely and not covered by this. A person texting from their own phone is not A2P traffic. This applies to messages your systems send, reminders, confirmations, follow-ups, alerts.
Who owns the Twilio account?
You do, in your name, with your billing. We get access to configure it. Same principle as your Google Business Profile and your ad accounts, if we part ways, your numbers and your registration stay with you.
What if I already registered a brand somewhere else?
Tell us. A brand registered under a different provider can sometimes be reused, and where it cannot, knowing about it saves us submitting a duplicate. Duplicates create a mess that takes longer to unpick than to avoid.
Send the block
Copy the form above, fill it in from your CP-575, and send it back. We submit the same day and tell you the moment it is approved.
[email protected]+1-248-205-6977
Next: campaign registration , the second half, and the one that decides what you are actually allowed to send.
- Published pricing
- Month to month, no minimum term
- You own everything
