A one-time password (OTP) is a password that is valid for a short period of time and is used for authentication.OTPs are usually used to authenticate a person through theSMS, Email, WhatsAppThe OTP is sent through channels such as Google Authenticator or generated by applications such as Google Authenticator, and the user is required to enter it within the validity period to complete the authentication. The server compares the OTP entered by the user with the OTP generated by the system to ensure security, and improves protection through short-term validity, rate limiting, and other measures.

OTP is commonly used for login and payment verification and can effectively reduce the risk of account theft and unauthorized access.

Why choose WhatsApp to send OTP?

weRecommended Overseas Business Options WhatsApp Send OTPBecause WhatsApp has more obvious advantages over the traditional SMS OTP verification method.

01WhatsApp OTP messages cost less to send

In many countries/areas.WhatsApp than SMS cheaperand there is no charge for undelivered messages. As a result, there is no charge for undelivered messages inHigh-coverage countries and regions such as India, Indonesia and South AmericaWe recommend using WhatsApp as thePreferred Verification ChannelsIt improves your overall verification conversion rate and is cheaper.

02 Ultra-high delivery rate

SMS messages can be undeliverable due to issues such as network, device incompatibility or carrier settings, whereas WhatsApp messages are transmitted over the internet and are less restricted.

03Enhanced user experience

WhatsApp OTP sends CAPTCHA through the chat interface and supports one-click copying, one-click filling and auto-filling, so users can quickly complete the verification without having to manually type it in, which dramatically improves the convenience and smoothness of the verification experience.

04 Lightweight billing mechanism

Due to WhatsApp's special billing mechanism, i.e. WhatsApp only charges for successful messages, you do not have to pay for failed or undelivered messages. For CAPTCHA, a single user is charged only once in 24 hours.

And WhatsApp doesn't have a complex chain of interests, so it's rare for it to be maligned.

05Enhanced security

WhatsApp provides end-to-end encryption to ensure that the content of messages is visible only to the sender and receiver, preventing authentication information from being intercepted or tampered with by third parties. In addition to this, WhatsApp offers the added security benefit that every WhatsApp user can be identified by a unique phone number provided when creating an account.WhatsApp uses its own set of powerful anti-fraud tools to verify these phone numbers. This means you outsource some of the authentication to WhatsApp.

Top 5 Sending Strategies for WhatsApp OTPs

When enterprises use WhatsApp API to send OTP messages, formulating appropriate sending strategies can greatly improve user experience and validation effect, and reduce the operating costs and user loss risk caused by sending too often.YCloud you summarize the five OTP sending strategies, so that you can make your OTP message delivery more efficient.

OTP Trigger Strategy Based on User Behavior

• First time registration and login: Send an OTP when a user first registers and logs in to ensure the authenticity of the user's identity and to educate and guide account security and usage habits.
• Sensitive operation trigger: When users perform sensitive operations (e.g., payments, cash withdrawals, personal information changes), the identity is verified through OTP to enhance operational security.
• Abnormal Behavior Verification: Automatically triggers OTP when abnormal account activity is detected (e.g. frequent logins, logins in different locations, etc.) to prevent malicious operations.
• Account Recovery: Send OTP confirmation to secure account recovery when users forget their password or request account recovery.

Multi-Channel & Auto-Replenishment Strategies

• WhatsApp Replacement Strategy for High Coverage Countries

If your audience is focused on countries with high WhatsApp coverage, such as Indonesia, India, Brazil, and Colombia, you can send OTP via WhatsApp by default. make it up via SMS as soon as the WhatsApp send fails (most likely because the target phone number is not registered with a personal WhatsApp account).
Generally speaking, there are two types of automatic refills:Immediate SMS replenishment for failed sends (FAILED) (highly recommended), and SMS replenishment for Deliverd status reports that have not been received for a long time (optional).
If the return is a failure (failed) situation, then immediately switch to SMS for remedial delivery to ensure the customer experience. As for the case of undelivered timeout, our suggestion is to set a timeout time, when WhatsApp OTP message is submitted successfully (sent), and the message Deliverd status update is received late, the same OTP message is automatically replenished via SMS. We recommend this timeout to be anywhere from 15s to 60s, depending on how you balance cost and customer experience.

• WhatsApp General Coverage Country Sending Strategy

And if your audience is located in a country/region where WhatsApp's coverage is not high enough, or if your app covers multiple countries/regions, you can provide the option of a button for receiving OTP message channels, allowing users to choose their own channel for receiving OTP.

Setting the appropriate OTP expiration date

• Adaptation to the context of use:Different scenarios should have different OTP validity periods. For example, the OTP for login verification can be set with a shorter validity period (e.g., 1-5 minutes), while the OTP for payment verification can be set with a slightly longer validity period (e.g., 10-15 minutes) to adapt to the process requirements.
• Remind the user of the expiration date:Sending OTP with an additional expiration date prompt lets users clearly know the expiration date of OTP, reducing confusion and repeated requests in the usage experience.

Optimize sending content

• Sender Brand Identity: Messages can be sent under a brand name by applying for WhatsApp Green Label certification, ensuring that users know that this message is coming from an official corporate channel and preventing them from mistaking the message for a scam.
• Use of multi-language support: Provide multi-language support based on user preference or location to enhance user understanding and trust.

Monitor and analyze delivery results

• Monitor OTP delivery rates: Monitor WhatsApp OTP delivery rates in real-time, identify delivery failures due to network or other issues, and take timely action.
• Analyzing user response times: Analyze the average response time of OTPs as a means of assessing the reasonableness of the validity period and the adaptation of users to the OTP process.
• Continuous optimization: Based on the monitoring and analysis results, continuously optimize the timing, content and frequency of OTP sending to improve the overall user experience.

WhatsApp OTP sending scenarios

01 E-commerce and retail industry

• User Login and Registration: Sends OTP via WhatsApp during user login and registration to ensure account authenticity and prevent malicious registrations.
• Payment Confirmation: Verify user identity through OTP during the checkout and payment process to ensure payment security and prevent account theft.
• Change of personal information: If a user needs to change his/her cell phone number, address or payment method, the identity is verified through OTP to ensure the legitimacy of the information change.
• Large Order Confirmation: For large orders, send OTP confirmations to prevent fraud.

02 Banking and Financial Services

• login verification: Banking and financial apps can secure their accounts by enabling two-factor authentication for login via WhatsApp OTP.
• Transaction Confirmation: For transactions such as money transfers, investments or loan applications, customer authorization is confirmed through OTP to prevent unauthorized operations.
• Password reset: When users need to reset their account passwords, OTP ensures the legitimacy of the operation and prevents account theft.
• Change of sensitive informationOTP verification ensures that the information is updated safely and securely if you change your linked bank card, email address or cell phone number.

03 Healthcare

• Patient Information Protection: Authenticate user identity through OTP to ensure that only patients or authorized personnel have access to medical records and charts.
• tele-diagnosis: Confirming patient identity through OTP on a remote consultation platform ensures the privacy and security of sensitive information.
• Reservation Confirmation and Change: Confirmation via WhatsApp OTP when a patient makes an appointment or changes a healthcare service, preventing appointment conflicts and malicious occupancy.
• Electronic prescription access: OTP validation when patients or pharmacies access e-prescriptions to ensure the legitimacy of medication access.

04 Education and online learning

• Student Identity Verification: Verify student identity through OTP when registering, logging into the online learning platform or taking an exam to prevent substitution and cheating.
• Course Enrollment Confirmation: Identity is confirmed through OTP when students enroll in courses or pay tuition fees to ensure the security of tuition payments.
• Transcripts and Certificates Download: Ensure information security through OTP verification when students download transcripts or certificates.
• Parent/student access control: Ensure security through OTP when opening up access to some student information for parents.

05 Courier and logistics industry

• Order Confirmation: When a user places or modifies an order, an OTP is sent via WhatsApp for confirmation, preventing incorrect orders or malicious operations.
• Package Pickup Verification: Users use OTP to authenticate their identity at the time of pickup to ensure that only authorized persons are able to pick up packages.
• Notification of Distribution Changes: Confirm the user's identity through OTP to ensure the accuracy of the information when the delivery time and address are changed.
• Courier identification: For the delivery of high-value items, the identity of the courier is verified through OTP to prevent counterfeiting and loss.

06 Online games and entertainment industry

• Account Login: On gaming platforms or apps, authenticate user login via OTP to avoid account theft.
• Recharge or large purchase confirmation: Confirms payment via OTP when users recharge or make large purchases, preventing unauthorized expenditures.
• Social Features Security: Prevent malicious behavior with OTP authentication when users add friends, join teams, or initiate group chats.
• Change of sensitive information: For example, if you change your bound payment information, email address, cell phone number, etc., OTP confirmation helps prevent the information from being tampered with.

WhatsApp OTP sending method

1. enrollmentYCloud: Log in to the YCloud back office and click on Access.
2. Create a WABA account: Follow the instructions to complete the account creation.
3. Create an authentication message template: Enter the template creation page, select the "Authentication" category and fill in the template name, language and other information, submit and wait for activation.
4. Send OTP: Use the API interface to send OTP messages.
5. Listening to Webhook Push: Configure the callback URL to receive and monitor the message status to ensure that the CAPTCHA is successfully sent to the user.

Details on how to do this can be found at http://YCloud.com咨询了解

Q Why should I choose YCloud?

A. YCloud is the best BSP you can find.

• YCloud, as Meta's official BSP, can help organizations realize all of the above customer support business scenarios
• Very competitive session rates
• Free All-in-one WhatsApp Marketing/Sales/Services Platform
• Free 24/7 online support
• Free Green Tick Verification Assistance