A Nigerian technology startup, 3650HQ, is seeking to help businesses reduce the cost and complexity of managing customer conversations as changes to WhatsApp Business Platform pricing put renewed focus on messaging efficiency.
Meta introduced changes to its WhatsApp Business Platform pricing from October 1, 2026, including charges for service messages beyond a monthly allowance of 1,000 delivered service messages per business phone number.
Utility messages sent within an open 24-hour customer-service window are also subject to the new pricing structure.
The changes apply to businesses using the WhatsApp Business Platform and not ordinary WhatsApp users, with the financial impact depending on message volume, message category and the recipient market.
For Nigerian businesses that rely heavily on WhatsApp to respond to customers, process orders and drive sales, the development has highlighted the need to manage customer conversations more efficiently.
Beyond messaging costs, many businesses also face the challenge of managing customers across multiple platforms, including WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, TikTok and email.
3650HQ, in a statement on Tuesday, stated that it would address the challenge through a conversational-commerce platform that brings customer communication and other parts of the sales process into one workspace.
The firm stated that the platform would enable businesses to manage conversations from different channels through a shared inbox while also providing tools for invoicing, payment collection and delivery.
According to the company, the approach is designed to allow businesses to move from a customer enquiry to a completed transaction without repeatedly switching between different applications.
The platform, the statement said, also uses artificial intelligence to assist with customer responses and identify conversations that indicate strong buying intent.
The company added that voice notes can be transcribed into text, while comments and mentions can be managed alongside direct messages.
The startup is also focusing on reducing unnecessary back-and-forth conversations on WhatsApp through structured interactions.
One of the tools highlighted by the company is “WhatsApp Flows, which allow businesses to collect information such as product size, colour and delivery address through structured forms within a WhatsApp conversation, rather than asking customers to provide each detail through multiple messages.”
The same approach is applied to payments. 3650HQ said businesses can generate invoices within customer conversations and create dedicated virtual bank accounts for transactions.
It stated, “Once payment is verified, the invoice can be marked as paid, reducing the need for businesses to manually confirm payment screenshots. Delivery can subsequently be arranged through the same workflow.”
A co-founder of the company, Ibrahim Abdulazeez, whose background as a software engineer contributed to the development of the platform, said the challenge facing businesses goes beyond having too many messages.
He said the larger problem was that much of the sales process remained dependent on fragmented conversations and manual processes.
The company’s approach is therefore aimed at making customer interactions more purposeful by helping businesses collect information together, identify serious buyers, reduce repetitive exchanges and move customers from conversation to payment and fulfilment with fewer disconnected steps.
The development comes as WhatsApp continues to evolve its business model and businesses increasingly depend on messaging platforms to sell and provide customer support.
3650HQ said businesses should not necessarily interpret the new pricing structure as meaning that every company using WhatsApp will immediately face significant charges, noting that the free allowance, message category, business phone number and communication volume all influence the cost.
However, for businesses operating at higher volumes, messaging efficiency is becoming an increasingly important part of their digital commerce strategy.
This could involve using structured forms instead of lengthy conversations, automating routine interactions while retaining human oversight, identifying high-intent customers more quickly and choosing communication channels according to the nature of each interaction.
The company describes 3650HQ as an operating system for African social commerce, bringing conversations, selling, payments and delivery into one connected workspace.
Its pricing model is based on prepaid credits rather than a recurring monthly subscription, with new users receiving 50 free credits before topping up according to usage.
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