10DLC - Brand verification requirements 10DLC - Brand verification requirements

10DLC - Brand verification requirements

10DLC Product Manager

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The 10DLC regulation requires all brands registered to be verified before they can register a new 10DLC campaign. There are three levels of verification for 10DLC brands.

 

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Basic verification

The verification takes place at the brand registration. A vetting provider checks against the information provided against the official records to confirm that the company exists and is officially registered. The cost of your brand verification is part of the brand registration fee of $4.50.

 

In recent months, the vetting provider that The Campaign Registry (TCR) uses to perform the basic verification of your 10DLC brands has been experiencing regular downtimes. In order to reduce errors and simplify the registration process, we have uncoupled the brand creation and the brand verification phases. This means that newly created brands will now show a new “pending” status until the vetting provider has been able to assess the brand and determine its identity status as either “verified” or “unverified”.

 

This table outlines the different campaign use cases you can register depending on your brand identity status and brand entity type:

 

Identity Status Brand Entity Type Definition Allowed Use Cases
Pending Sole Proprietor, Private Profit, Public Profit, Non-Profit, Government The brand has been created and the information provided is being verified by TCR's vetting provider partner. None
Unverified Sole Proprietor, Private Profit, Public Profit, Non-Profit, Government

The brand information could not be verified.

For Public-Profit brands, Auth+ 2.0 process must be completed.

For others, request an external vetting if applicable.

None
Verified Sole Proprietor Your brand information is valid and you completed the OTP (2FA) verification. Sole Proprietor
Verified Private Profit, Public Profit, Non-Profit, Government

Your brand information has been verified.

Note: For Public-Profit, Auth+ vetting/2FA is required.

After Auth+ is complete, you can register Low Volume Mixed campaigns only.

Low Volume Mixed
Vetted Verified Private Profit, Public Profit, Non-Profit, Government

Your brand has successfully been vetted and assigned a vetting score.

All use cases may be available, subject to approval and carrier restrictions.

For Public-Profit: Auth+ completion is required regardless of vetting outcome.

All (additional approvals may be required)

 

Note:

  • Updating your 10DLC brand details may cause the brand identity status to revert to "unverified" and require you to re-verify the brand ($4.50 fee). Typically, changes to your brand entity type, EIN number, EIN issuing country and brand legal name, if allowed, will require you to re-verify the brand.
  • Sole Proprietor brands require to complete an OTP verification to be verified

 

U.S. brands

If you have registered a private or public profit company, the EIN provided and the legal company name must match the official records that will be used to verify the information.

Ensure the following:

  • For Non-Profit brands: The EIN must be tax-exempt, as confirmed by the IRS
  • For Governmental brands: The EIN must match a government entity (US governmental agencies) 
  • For international brands: Use the brand's home country information (Business number, VAT number or DUNS) alongside the address listed on the home country's official records

 

Canadian brands

The Campaign Registry (TCR) only accepts the Canadian Business Number (BN) rather than the Corporation/Incorporation/Registry ID numbers for Canadian Brand Registrations. We only accept the first 9 numeric digits of the Business Number (BN-9). Here is an example of the format of a BN where the bolded part is the part we will collect in the Canadian Brand.

 Tax/Corporation ID field: 123456789RT0001

The address you use to register your brand should match the address you registered with Corporations Canada.

 

TCR will proceed to re-verify all brands that failed basic verification automatically without additional cost to you once they have finalised the implementation of this new verification process using BN-9 numbers.

 

Other brands (international)

The vetting provider uses information collected from different official registries in order to verify the brands. Unfortunately, many countries do not offer sufficient technological capabilities. This means that brands registered in those countries cannot automatically verify, and an external vetting will be required to register 10DLC campaigns.

 

The following countries are part of an "optimized approval list". Meaning that entities registered in those countries can benefit from an automated VAT identification. 

Country Country Code Country Country Code
Croatia HR Slovenia SI
Hungary HU Slovakia SK
Ireland IE Northern Ireland XI
Italy IT United Arab Emirates AE
Lithuania LT Australia AU
Luxembourg LU Belarus BY
Latvia LV Chile CL
Malta MT Iceland IS
Netherlands NL Malaysia MY
Norway NO New Zealand NZ
Poland PL Saudi Arabia SA
Portugal PT Singapore SG
Romania RO Taiwan TW
Sweden SE    

 

Use the numeric portion of your VAT ID. If you don't have a VAT ID, provide the primary corporation registration number or tax ID for your country. Here are some examples of correct tax numbers:

Country

Reference

Structure

Required Input Example

United Kingdom

VAT Number

  • Country code
  • 9-digit number

GB123456789

Germany

VAT Number

  • Country code
  • 11-digit number
DE12345678910

France

VAT Number

  • Country code
  • 11-digit number

FR12345678910

Singapore

Goods & Services Tax (GST)

  • 9-digit number
  • Single alpha character

123456789N

 

For any other country, TCR recommends using the primary corporation registration number or tax ID number for the country, and vetting will likely be required to verify the brand.

Failed verification

What should you do if your brand cannot be verified? The very first step is to double check all your brand details and ensure that they correspond to the public records available from the registry of your brand's country. We recommend to register 10DLC brands using the details of their headquarters (home country).

If your brand information is correct, but fail the verify the brand, please request an external vet or reach out to your account manager or open a support ticket.

Authentication+ 2.0 verification - New

The Campaign Registry (TCR) introduced a new brand verification process called "Authentication+" verification, required for all Public-Profit brands from October 17, 2024. As of August 7, 2025, this has evolved to Authentication 2.0, which further strengthens security and separates the basic identity check from the 2FA verification step. Please read this article for a detailed description of this new verification process.

When registering or updating a Public-Profit brand, a new attribute called ‘verification email’ must be provided. This must be the email address of an employee working for the brand being registered (not a shared, personal, or distribution address).

Once the brand is created and passes the identity check, TCR sends a two-factor authentication (2FA) verification email to that address. The employee must click the link in the email and provide their first name, last name, job title, and the PIN code from the email. Once 2FA is completed, the brand’s Auth+ vetting status becomes Active and you can register new campaigns.

Failed authentication+ verification

If your Public-Profit brand cannot be verified (for example, due to a failed 2FA process or a rejected verification email), please open a support ticket for assistance to raise an Auth+ vetting appeal ($11 fees applicable).

With Auth+ 2.0, Standard and Enhanced vetting are fully independent of the Auth+ 2FA process and can be initiated in parallel. However, you must still successfully complete Authentication+ verification for your brand to become eligible for campaign registration or for vetting results to take effect

Brand vetting

For most campaign use cases, your brand will be required to apply for an external vetting. Once a vetting score has been applied to the brand, the campaign use cases will be unlocked.

Vetting requests are processed by a vetting provider, currently The Campaign Registry (TCR) accepts vets from three vetting providers: Aegis, WMC and Campaign Verify (CV).

For Campaign Verify vets, you must reach out directly to CV to request the vetting. Once the vetting has been completed, you can import your vet into the 10DLC brand using our dashboard or public API.

 

Vetting classes

AuthPlus vetting

Authentication+ vetting is a newly introduced, mandatory step for any new Public-Profit brand registering from August 7, 2025. With Auth+ 2.0, the basic identity check is now decoupled from the 2FA verification step.

Auth+ (Authentication+) vetting now has a fee and is automatically triggered by Vonage on your behalf once your brand’s identity status becomes Verified.
After your employee completes the 2FA process sent to the verification email, the Auth+ vetting status becomes Active. At this point, you can register campaigns of the “Low Volume Mixed” type.

For higher messaging throughput or additional use cases, you must still complete Standard or Enhanced vetting. These vetting types are now fully independent of the 2FA process and can be started in parallel to Auth+.

Currently, the Auth+ vetting status is not displayed in the Dashboard, but you can access it via the API. Please read this article for a detailed description of Auth+ 2.0 process.

 

Standard vetting

A standard vet is the most common form of vetting that unlocks most campaign use cases.

 

Enhanced vetting

If you would like a more in-depth investigation of your brand that includes court records, legal disputes, tax declarations and other elements; you can request an enhanced vet. This vet will result in a PDF detailed report of the findings and explanation for the vetting score assigned. This vetting class involves manual work and will usually take longer to complete. This vetting class does not guarantee a higher vetting score.

 

Political vetting

If you are a non-profit, political organization based in the U.S., you may be required to request a political vet to register political campaigns. Additional information is required for a political vet application:

  • First & last name of the candidate
  • Locale (tribal, state or federal campaign)
  • FEC committee type code, committee ID
  • Candidate type
  • State local committee type
  • Local committee state (US for president), local committee municipality, tribal location
  • Filing URL, filing record URL instruction, filing email
  • Election date
  • Pin preference

Note: The pin preference will determine the vetting cost for this vetting class

 

Political vets do not assign a vetting score to your brand, they only enable you to register political campaign use case by setting the optional attribute "section527" to 'true' for your brand. Brands that already have this tag following basic verification do not require a political vet to register political campaigns.

The Political campaigns have throughputs of:

  • 4500 messages per minute (AT&T and Verizon)
  • Unlimited (uncapped) for T-Mobile

Customers can request both a standard/enhanced vet to unlock most campaign use cases and get the highest throughputs possible for their brands through the vetting score, and a political vet for their political campaigns.

 

Vetting costs

Vetting Class Validity Vetting Provider Delivery Method Cost*
($/€)
Standard No expiration Aegis   41.50
WMC   41.50
Enhanced No expiration Aegis   101.50
Political 12 months Aegis Standard post, Email 66
Aegis Priority post 96
Campaign Verify   95

* All prices are expressed both in US Dollars or Euros, disregarding of conversion rates

 

Vetting status

When requesting an external vetting through our service, you can see the progression of your request via the vetting status

Vetting Status Description
Pending A temporary state, indicates the vetting request is pending
Unscore A temporary state, indicates the vetting request is under review by the vetting provider. The vetting request is still pending
Active A final state, indicates the vetting request is successfully processed
Failed A final state, indicates the vetting request processing is failed
Expired A final state, indicates the vetting request is expired. You will need to request a new vet to continue using your current campaigns or register new campaigns.

 

Improving the vetting score

If you are not happy with the vetting score assigned to your brand; we recommend that you make sure the information provided during the brand registration matches the official records for the home country of your business.

Typically, businesses and organizations that have been officially registered less than a year ago will be assigned a low vetting score. This will allow the entity to use 10DLC whilst giving more time for the industry to gather evidence that the brand is acting in good faith and behaves appropriately. 

10DLC brands may request a new vet 6-12 months after the last vetting to try and increase their vetting score. Please note that our partners recommend that brands wait at least a year between vetting requests, and do not guarantee that the new vetting score will be higher than the previous one.

 

Vetting appeals & failed vetting

A vetting request can fail for several reasons:

  • The information provided on your brand could not be matched with any of the records available
  • There was not sufficient evidence or records found to determine a vetting score
  • The vetting provider found evidence of past misconduct

What to do to fix it?

First, ensure the brand details provided match the official records of the brand's country. If you know the information to be correct, you can reach out to your account manager or open a support request, providing the following information:

  • Your 10DLC brand ID
  • Your Vonage account API key
  • The vetting score you expected as well as the vetting score your brand was assigned
  • The reason you would like to appeal the decision
  • Attach any official documentation you possess, to verify your brand information

We will reach out to the vetting provider on your behalf and make an appeal to the vetting result.

 

Available via the API:

From October 2023, customers will be able to submit vetting appeals for:

  • Failed vets
  • Successful vets with a vetting score too low

Submitting an vetting appeal is currently only possible via the API endpoint, we are working to add the feature to the Dashboard by the end of 2025 or in early 2026. 

 

Notes

  • Appeals can only be submitted for standard vets processed by Aegis for now
  • Appeals can only be submitted within 45 days of the vetting request being completed by Aegis
  • All appeals are charged a flat $11 fee, disregarding of the outcome of the appeal

Please check our 10DLC API description for details on how to submit the appeal.

 

Importing vetting records

If you have requested a vetting with Campaign Verify (CV) and wish to import the vetting records into your 10DLC brand, you can use our dashboard or public API.

 

T-Mobile Special Business Reviews (SBR)

If you would like to request higher daily throughput limitations for subscribers terminating to T-Mobile, you can apply for a special business review. This review process requires your 10DLC brand to be vetted (all the vetting classes are compatible). If you would like to proceed, please reach out to your account manager or submit a support request.

Note:

  • T-Mobile aims to charge $5000 for this review. This fee is currently waived
  • SBR requests are processed by T-Mobile, and take usually from 6 to 8 weeks
  • Brands must be vetted before an SBR request can be made (Standard, Enhanced or Political vet)

Specific verification requirements

Public profit brands

Authentication+ 2.0 is mandatory for all Public-Profit brands—both new and legacy.

  • For new brands: Any Public-Profit brand registered through Vonage on or after August 7, 2025, must complete the Auth+ 2.0 process before it can create campaigns.
  • For legacy brands: Any Public-Profit brand registered through Vonage before October 17, 2024, with at least one active campaign, must complete Auth+ 2.0 by October 30, 2025. After this date, you will not be able to create new brands or campaigns, and your 10DLC messaging traffic may be suspended.

 

Non-profit brands

A non-profit brand is required to register a charity campaign.

In order to register a political campaign, your brand must be a non-profit organization registered in the United States. In many cases, an external political vet will be required.

Non U.S. brands should register as a for profit brand, unless the organization has a legal entity in the U.S. 

 

Sole proprietor brands (U.S. & Canada only)

Sole proprietor brands need to be verified to be able to apply for a sole proprietor campaign. 

Please check this article to verify your sole proprietor brand.

 

Others

For some campaign use cases, additional approvals from Vonage and the carriers will be required after the registration of the campaign:

Carrier exemptions, Agents & franchise, Proxy, Emergency, Social, Sweepstakes

 

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