Philippines Letter of Authorization (LOA) guidelines

The registration of SMS senders in the Philippines is primarily aimed at curbing spam and fraudulent messages. It helps ensure that legitimate organizations and businesses can send SMS messages to consumers while minimizing unwanted and malicious content.

There are three networks in the Philippines that support local and international traffic:

• Smart Communications
• Globe Telecom
• DITO Telecommunity

Registration requirements

This section provides information about the requirements for registering your senders in the Philippines, which vary based on whether they are local or international senders.

Additionally, if you need more information about the country's coverage, restrictions, and current regulations, click here (opens in a new tab).

Philippines registration has different requirements per network. Considering this, the Letter of Authorization (LOA) is a crucial document in the SMS sender registration process in the Philippines which helps verify the legitimacy of the sender, ensures compliance with regulations, and establishes accountability.

The Letter of Authorization documents are separated based on the following customer types:

• Direct customers - This customer type is usually the direct owner of the sender or brand.
• Wholesales/partners - This customer type is generally not the owner of the sender and brand but rather engages in reselling or re-purposing them, depending on their business model and use case.

Local senders registration

A local sender is an entity that operates within the Philippines and focuses on reaching recipients who are also located within the country. However, it is important to verify the location of the head office of the company that owns the sender. If the head office is situated outside the Philippines, telco will reject the sender, and it will be categorized as an international sender.

Various document requirements exist based on the company's type and the network in question. To expedite the registration of your sender, ensure that you complete and provide all necessary documents with precision and accuracy, along with any additional required information.

Before you complete the LOA, make sure to gather the following details, as they will be necessary when registering with telco, in addition to the LOA document.

• Company website/Facebook page
• Company (entity) name
• Content sample
• Traffic type (transactional/OTP/promotional, etc.)
• Estimated traffic volume per month
• General Information Sheet (GIS)

Smart Communications

The sender's company should have headquarters located in the Philippines and have all necessary documents that it is registered in the Philippines. Additionally, the company and brand should not operate outside the Philippines as based on the international guidelines (see above).

For traffic requirements, the following should be noted:

• A2P SMS that is used for One-Time Passwords (OTPs) should have the company name as part of the body of the message. This is to reduce instances of fraud and to be able to identify the company that intended to send the SMS.
• Templates with URL shorteners will be blocked for all Sender IDs. In order to avoid blocking, it is recommended to follow the format which uses full URLs in messages so that the destination site is clearly visible to the recipient.

Download the LOA templates here:

Smart Local Direct Client LOA (opens in a new tab)

Smart Local No Objection Certificate LOA (opens in a new tab)

Smart Local Aggregator Client LOA (opens in a new tab)

After you download the templates, follow the below guides for LOA according to your company type. Fill in the yellow highlighted fields by completely replacing each field with your information. If a field is not highlighted, do not change it.

Direct customers

If you are a direct client, adhere to the following LOA guidelines in the provided document:

1. Add the company letter head.

2. Add the date when the LOA was filled out.

3. The company name.

4. Fill out the table with sender names you want to register and the SMS purpose. The LOA has a validity period of one year, which makes it a subject for renewal.

5. Sender requirements that must be followed; otherwise, telco will reject the registration.

6. Provide the information that will be used during the LOA verification process to validate the document's authenticity:

   1. Name: Contact person of the company
   2. Contact channel: Where will you be contacted?
   3. Company/Business email: Provide the company email address
   4. Email: Email address of the contact person

7. Authorized signatory from the company who owns the Sender ID

No Objection certificate

Download the No Objection certificate and fill in the highlighted fields by completely replacing every field with your information.

After you have completed the documents, contact your dedicated account manager and provide them with the documents and the required sender information.

Wholesales/partners

If you are a wholesales/reseller who is directly or indirectly communicating with the brand owner, secure both LOAs below and adhere to the following guidelines in the provided document.

Aggregator LOA

1. Add the company letter head that owns the Sender ID.
2. Add the date when the LOA was filled out.
3. Wholesales/partner company name.
4. Company that owns the Sender ID.
5. Fill out the table with sender names you want to register and the SMS purpose. The LOA has a validity period of one year, which makes it a subject for renewal.
6. Sender requirements that must be followed; otherwise, telco will reject the registration.
7. Provide the information of the customer contact person that will be used during the LOA verification process to validate the document's authenticity.
8. Authorized signatory from the company who owns the Sender ID.
9. Signed by the reseller/aggregator company.

No Objection certificate

Download the No Objection certificate and fill in the highlighted fields by completely replacing every field with your information.

Upon completing the necessary documents, contact [email protected] and your dedicated account manager, and provide the documents along with the required sender information.

Globe Telecom

To register with Globe Telecom, you will be required to submit the specific type of LOA depending on whether you are the owner of the sender or a reseller.

Keep in mind that additional documents are required if the company is from a BFSI (banking, financial services, insurance), online gaming or gambling category when you register the Sender IDs from the signed Sender ID Letter of Authorization.

BFSI (banking, financial services, insurance):

1. Business Registration or Articles of Incorporation
2. Business Permit
3. Specific regulatory agency licenses depending on industry (example: banks require BSP licenses)
4. If the Sender ID that you intend to register does not have a clear business-related relevance, be aware of the following considerations or requirements:
   • Intellectual property rights to the brand name or
   • Secretary's Certificate specifying the proof of Sender ID relevance to the business
5. Mayor's permit from the local government unit's Business Permits and Licensing Office (BPLO)

Online gaming and gambling companies:

1. Written confirmation of client consent for database usage
2. Updated Business Permit
3. Mayor's permit
4. SEC Business Registration and Articles of Incorporation (AOI)
5. PAGCOR Inland Gaming License/s (details in Appendix C.5 and C.6) with:
   • License number
   • Full company name and address (matching SEC and permit documents)
   • Validity period
   • Issuance date
   • PAGCOR signatures and seal
   • Specific allowed operations

Download the LOA templates here:

Globe Single Client to Infobip (opens in a new tab)

Aggregator Client to Infobip (Single Client) (opens in a new tab)

After you download the templates, follow the below guides for LOA according to your company type. Fill in the yellow highlighted fields by completely replacing each field with your information. If a field is not highlighted, do not change it.

Direct customers

If you are a direct Infobip client, adhere to the following LOA guidelines in the provided document:

1. Add the company letter head.
2. Fill in the company name and address.
3. Add the date when the LOA was filled out.
4. Company name.
5. Fill out the table with sender names you want to register and the SMS purpose. The LOA has a validity period of one year, which makes it a subject for renewal. The standard process for determining the validity of the LOA is to set the end date as one day less than the start date. For example, if the start date is 09/01/2023, the end date should be 08/31/2024.
6. Sender requirements that must be followed; otherwise, telco will reject the registration.
7. Authorized signatory from the company who owns the Sender ID.

After you have completed the documents, contact your dedicated account manager and provide them with the documents and the Facebook page/web page related to the Sender ID you are registering.

Wholesales/partners

If you are a wholesales/reseller who is directly or indirectly communicating with the brand owner, secure the LOA below and adhere to the following guidelines in the provided document.

Aggregator client to Infobip LOA

1. Add the wholesales/partner company letter head.
2. Fill in the wholesales/partner company name and address.
3. Add the date when the LOA was filled out.
4. Wholesales/partner company name.
5. End client or brand owner company name.
6. Fill out the table with sender names you want to register and the SMS purpose with the sender's message template. The LOA has a validity period of one year, which makes it a subject for renewal. The standard process for determining the validity of the LOA is to set the end date as one day less than the start date. For example, if the start date is 09/01/2023, the end date should be 08/31/2024.
7. Sender requirements that must be followed; otherwise, telco will reject the registration.
8. Authorized signatory from the company (Reseller).

Upon completing the necessary documents, contact [email protected] and your dedicated account manager, and provide the documents along with the required sender information.

DITO Telecommunity

For registering the sender with DITO Telecommunity, no documents are required. However, you must provide the following details and adhere to the sender requirements:

• Message sample
• Entity name
• Traffic type (promotional/transactional)

Sender requirements

1. Maximum of eleven (11) alphanumeric characters only per SID.
2. Numeric and generic senders are not allowed.
3. Spaces are allowed and a space is equivalent to one (1) character.
4. Big or small caps are allowed.
5. Special characters are not allowed except period (.), dash (-), and underscore (_).
6. SIDs should be linked to the company name or brand to easily identify the SMS sender.

Contact your dedicated account manager if you are the sender owner or reach out at [email protected] or to your account manager if you are a reseller.

International senders registration

An international sender operates outside the Philippines' borders, yet their intended recipients are located within the Philippines.

Various document requirements exist based on the company's type and the network in question. To expedite the registration of your sender, ensure that you complete and provide all necessary documents with precision and accuracy, along with any additional required information.

Follow the guidelines specific to each network for completing the Letter of Authorization (LOA). It is important to note that mobile network carriers have strict requirements regarding the accuracy of the provided details.

Before you proceed to complete the LOA, make sure to prepare the following details, as they will be required during the registration process in addition to the LOA document:

• Company website/Facebook page
• Company (entity) name
• Content sample
• Traffic type (transactional/OTP/promotional, etc.)
• Estimated traffic volume per month

Smart Communications

To complete the registration process for Smart Communications, you will be required to submit the LOA document. The specific type of LOA required will depend on whether you are the direct customer or wholesales/partner.

Smart telco defines a sender as "international" based on the following criteria:

• International Sender IDs - refers to the business name or brand owned or used by an international company.
  These sender IDs are SMS identifiers and/or mask names, sent by or sent on behalf of an international company.
• International company/companies- refers to a corporation or partnership which is:
  • Incorporated outside of the Philippines; or
  • Incorporated inside the Philippines but with its headquarters or main office located outside of the Philippines; or
  • Its majority shareholder is a foreign national or company.

If the sender's company does not meet the criteria mentioned above, the sender needs to be registered as local.

Download the LOA templates here:

Smart International Direct Client LOA (opens in a new tab)

Smart International Brand Owner to Aggregator LOA (opens in a new tab)

Smart International BFSI LOA (opens in a new tab)

After you download the templates, follow the below guides for LOA according to your company type. Fill in the yellow highlighted fields by completely replacing each field with your information. If a field is not highlighted, do not change it.

Direct customers

If you are a direct Infobip client, adhere to the following LOA guidelines in the provided document:

1. Add the company letter head.
2. Add the date when the LOA was filled out.
3. Company name.
4. Sender requirements that must be followed; otherwise, telco will reject the registration.
5. Fill out the table with sender names you want to register and the SMS purpose. The LOA has a validity period of two years, which makes it a subject for renewal.
6. Authorized signatory from the company who owns the Sender ID.

After you have completed the documents, contact your dedicated account manager and provide them with the documents and the required sender information.

Wholesales/partners

If you are a wholesales/reseller who is directly or indirectly communicating with the brand owner, secure both LOAs below and adhere to the following guidelines in the provided documents.

Brand owner to aggregator LOA

The LOA below is intended for brand owners who are direct clients of the partners. Adhere to the following guidelines in the provided document:

1. Brand owner company letter head.
2. Add the date when the LOA was filled out.
3. Reseller/aggregator company name authorized by the brand owner.
4. Company that is the owner of the sender.
5. This paragraph can be removed if not needed.
6. Sender requirements that must be followed; otherwise, telco will reject the registration.
7. Fill out the table with sender names you want to register and the SMS purpose. The LOA has a validity period of two years, which makes it a subject for renewal.
8. Authorized signatory of the company that is the owner of the sender.
9. Authorized signatory of the reseller company.

Direct client or aggregator to Infobip LOA

The LOA below is intended for the partners and resellers who want to register the sender towards Infobip. Adhere to the following guidelines in the provided document:

1. Add the company letter head.
2. Add the date when the LOA was filled out.
3. Company name (wholesales/partner).
4. Sender requirements that must be followed; otherwise, telco will reject the registration.
5. Fill out the table with sender names you want to register and the SMS purpose. The LOA has a validity period of two years, which makes it a subject for renewal.
6. Authorized signatory from the reseller company.

BFSI client LOA

If you intend to register the sender for your BFSI (banking, financial services, and insurance) client, you will only need to supply the BFSI LOA to both the aggregator and Infobip.

1. Add the reseller company letter head.
2. Brand owner company letter head.
3. Add the date when the LOA was filled out.
4. Reseller/aggregator company name authorized by the brand owner.
5. BFSI company that is the owner of the sender.
6. Fill out the table with sender names you want to register and the SMS purpose. The LOA has a validity period of two years, which makes it a subject for renewal.
7. Sender requirements that must be followed; otherwise, telco will reject the registration.
8. Authorized signatory of the BFSI company that is the owner of the sender.
9. Authorized signatory of the reseller company.

Upon completing the necessary documents, contact [email protected] and your dedicated account manager, and provide the documents along with the required sender information.

Globe Telecom

To register with Globe Telecom, you will be required to submit the specific type of LOA depending on whether you are the owner of the sender/brand or a partner/reseller.

Globe Telecom defines a sender as "international" based on the following criteria:

• Premium A2P SMS refers to A2P (application-to-person) SMS messages that originate from outside the Philippines, including those initiated or sent by an international company headquartered outside the Philippines. This category also includes other A2P SMS messages sent from numeric or unknown names (generic SIDs) that Globe/m360 considers international.

When registering Sender IDs for BFSI entities, in addition to the signed Sender ID Letter of Authorization and other necessary information, provide the following additional documents:

1. Business Registration or Articles of Incorporation
2. Business Permit
3. Specific regulatory agency licenses depending on industry (example: banks require BSP licenses)
4. If the Sender ID that you intend to register does not have a clear business-related relevance, be aware of the following considerations or requirements:
   • Intellectual property rights to the brand name or
   • Secretary's Certificate specifying the proof of Sender ID relevance to the business

Download the LOA templates here:

Globe International Direct Client LOA (opens in a new tab)

Globe International End Client to Aggregator LOA (opens in a new tab)

Globe International Client to Infobip LOA (opens in a new tab)

After you download the templates, follow the below guides for LOA according to your company type. Fill in the yellow highlighted fields by completely replacing each field with your information. If a field is not highlighted, do not change it.

Direct customers

If you are a direct Infobip client, adhere to the following LOA guidelines in the provided document:

1. Add the company letter head.
2. Fill in the company name and address.
3. Add the date when the LOA was filled out.
4. Company name.
5. Fill out the table with sender names you want to register and the SMS purpose. The LOA has a validity period of one year, which makes it a subject for renewal. The standard process for determining the validity of the LOA is to set the end date as one day less than the start date. For example, if the start date is 09/01/2023, the end date should be 08/31/2024.
6. Sender requirements that must be followed; otherwise, telco will reject the registration.
7. Authorized signatory from the company who owns the Sender ID.

After you have completed the documents, contact your dedicated account manager and provide them with the documents and the required sender information.

Wholesales/partners

If you are one of the wholesales/reseller who is directly or indirectly communicating with the brand owner, secure both LOAs below and adhere to the following guidelines in the provided documents.

End client to aggregator LOA

This LOA is intended for brand owners who are direct clients of the partners. Adhere to the following guidelines in the provided document:

1. End client letter head.
2. End client company name and address.
3. Add the date when the LOA was filled out.
4. Wholesales/partner company name authorized by the brand owner.
5. End client or brand owner company name.
6. Fill out the table with sender names you want to register and the SMS purpose. The LOA has a validity period of one year, which makes it a subject for renewal. The standard process for determining the validity of the LOA is to set the end date as one day less than the start date. For example, if the start date is 09/01/2023, the end date should be 08/31/2024.
7. Sender requirements that must be followed; otherwise, telco will reject the registration.
8. Authorized signatory of the end client company that is the owner of the sender.
9. Authorized signatory of the reseller company (wholesale/partner).

Client to Infobip LOA

This LOA is intended for partners and resellers who want to register the sender towards Infobip. Adhere to the following guidelines in the provided document:

1. Add the wholesale/partner company letter head.
2. Fill in the wholesale/partner company name and address.
3. Add the date when the LOA was filled out.
4. Wholesale/partner company name.
5. Fill out the table with sender names you want to register and the SMS purpose. The LOA has a validity period of one year, which makes it a subject for renewal. The standard process for determining the validity of the LOA is to set the end date as one day less than the start date. For example, if the start date is 09/01/2023, the end date should be 08/31/2024.
6. Sender requirements that must be followed; otherwise, telco will reject the registration.
7. Authorized signatory from the wholesale/partner company.

Upon completing the necessary documents, contact [email protected] and your dedicated account manager, and provide the documents along with the required sender information.

DITO Telecommunity

For registering the sender with DITO Telecommunity, no documents are required. However, you must provide the following details and adhere to the sender requirements:

• Message sample
• Entity name
• Traffic type (promotional/transactional)

Sender requirements

1. Maximum of eleven (11) alphanumeric characters only per SID.
2. Numeric and generic senders are not allowed.
3. Spaces are allowed and a space is equivalent to one (1) character.
4. Big or small caps are allowed.
5. Special characters are not allowed except period (.), dash (-), and underscore (_).
6. SIDs should be linked to the company name or brand to easily identify the SMS sender.

Contact your dedicated account manager if you are the sender owner or reach out at [email protected] or to your account manager if you are a reseller.