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Subscription renewal reminder via WhatsApp API

The scenario sends the customer a personalised WhatsApp template before a subscription renewal date.

Use case overview

The scenario sends the customer a personalised WhatsApp template before a subscription renewal date. The message includes the customer name, subscription or service name, renewal amount, and due date. A static URL button opens the renewal or payment page.

Template example

Hello, {{1}}! Your subscription "{{2}}" renews for {{3}} on {{4}}. Renew now to keep access.

Renew subscription
  • {{1}}
    customer name
  • {{2}}
    subscription or service name
  • {{3}}
    renewal amount
  • {{4}}
    renewal due date
  • “Renew subscription”
    button — fixed in the Meta template
WhatsApp Business API for subscription renewal reminder

When to use it

Reach for this scenario when billing flags an upcoming subscription renewal and the customer has not opened a WhatsApp conversation yet — only an approved template can go out first. It fits SaaS and subscription teams, membership and service businesses where missed renewals mean lost access, and integrators wiring billing schedules to WhatsApp reminders.

Fewer expired subscriptions
Four body variables carry the customer's name, plan name, renewal amount and due date in their own chat, so the deadline stays visible in WhatsApp instead of buried in email.
Reach outside the 24-hour window
An approved template opens the conversation without a prior inbound message, so renewal reminders can reach subscribers who never wrote first.
No manual renewal outreach
Billing fires the reminder when the renewal date approaches and the system pulls phone plus subscription fields from the billing record, so no one rebuilds the list or retypes amounts.
Renew without replying in chat
The static URL button fixed in the Meta template opens the renewal or payment page directly — only the four body variables are sent via the API.
Delivery logged for billing follow-up
Delivery result is written back for billing or CRM, so the reminder ties to the same subscription record that triggered it.

Workflow

  1. Trigger

    Billing detects an approaching subscription renewal date and fires a reminder event.

    event · triggered

  2. Capture event

    The system resolves the customer phone number and subscription fields.

    phone: "+…"

  3. Build & send

    A personalised template message is built with four body variables and a static URL button.

    POST /sendTemplate

  4. Delivered

    The customer receives the WhatsApp renewal reminder and can renew via the button.

    delivered

  5. Status tracked

    Delivery result is logged for billing or CRM follow-up.

    status: "read"

WhatsApp Business API for subscription renewal reminder

Technical implementation

Prerequisites

  1. 1MSG API Key · How to get API Key
  2. WhatsApp Business account · How to Connect WABA
  3. WhatsApp Template · How to Approve WABA Template
  4. Customer opt-in · How to Manage Customers Consent

Code examples

#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail

# === Configuration (replace "___" placeholders) ===

API_BASE_URL="https://api.1msg.io"        # production 1MSG API base URL
CHANNEL_ID="___"                           # channel ID from 1MSG dashboard
API_TOKEN="___"                            # channel JWT token (Bearer)

TEMPLATE_NAME="___"                        # approved template name
TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE="___"                   # template namespace (required — send fails without it)
TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE="___"                    # template language code, e.g. "en"



# === Test data ===
TEST_PHONE="___"                 # client phone in international format
TEST_CUSTOMERNAME="___"         # {{1}} customer name
TEST_SERVICE="___"         # {{2}} service name
TEST_PAYMENTAMOUNT="___"         # {{3}} payment amount
TEST_DUEDATE="___"         # {{4}} due date

PHONE_NORM="$(printf '%s' "$TEST_PHONE" | tr -cd '0-9')"

for pair in "CHANNEL_ID=$CHANNEL_ID" "API_TOKEN=$API_TOKEN" \
            "TEMPLATE_NAME=$TEMPLATE_NAME" "TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE=$TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE" \
            "TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE=$TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE" "TEST_PHONE=$TEST_PHONE" \
            "TEST_CUSTOMERNAME=$TEST_CUSTOMERNAME" \
            "TEST_SERVICE=$TEST_SERVICE" \
            "TEST_PAYMENTAMOUNT=$TEST_PAYMENTAMOUNT" \
            "TEST_DUEDATE=$TEST_DUEDATE"; do
    val="${pair#*=}"
    if [ -z "$val" ] || [ "$val" = "___" ]; then
        echo "Missing configuration value: ${pair%%=*}" >&2
        exit 1
    fi
done

if [ -z "$PHONE_NORM" ]; then
    echo "Error: phone number has no digits after normalization" >&2
    exit 1
fi

URL="${API_BASE_URL%/}/${CHANNEL_ID}/sendTemplate"

# params carries body ONLY. Button text is fixed in the Meta template — no button param.

# {{1}} customer name → ${TEST_CUSTOMERNAME}
# {{2}} service name → ${TEST_SERVICE}
# {{3}} payment amount → ${TEST_PAYMENTAMOUNT}
# {{4}} due date → ${TEST_DUEDATE}
read -r -d '' PAYLOAD <<JSON || true
{
  "phone": "${PHONE_NORM}",
  "template": "${TEMPLATE_NAME}",
  "namespace": "${TEMPLATE_NAMESPACE}",
  "language": { "policy": "deterministic", "code": "${TEMPLATE_LANGUAGE}" },
  "params": [
    {
      "type": "body",
      "parameters": [
        { "type": "text", "text": "${TEST_CUSTOMERNAME}" },
        { "type": "text", "text": "${TEST_SERVICE}" },
        { "type": "text", "text": "${TEST_PAYMENTAMOUNT}" },
        { "type": "text", "text": "${TEST_DUEDATE}" }
      ]
    }

  ]
}
JSON

RESPONSE="$(curl -s -w '\n%{http_code}' -X POST "$URL" \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -H "Authorization: Bearer ${API_TOKEN}" \
    -d "$PAYLOAD")"

HTTP_CODE="$(printf '%s' "$RESPONSE" | tail -n1)"
BODY="$(printf '%s' "$RESPONSE" | sed '$d')"

case "$BODY" in
    *'"sent":true'*) ok=1 ;;
    *) ok=0 ;;
esac

if [ "$HTTP_CODE" -ge 200 ] && [ "$HTTP_CODE" -lt 300 ] && [ "$ok" -eq 1 ]; then
    echo "Message sent to client."
    echo "API response: $BODY"
else
    echo "Send failed. HTTP status: $HTTP_CODE" >&2
    echo "$BODY" >&2
    exit 1
fi

Response and delivery status

HTTP 2xx and JSON "sent": true mean 1MSG accepted the message for sending — not that it already reached the customer's phone. Save the id field (looks like wamid.…) to correlate delivery callbacks.

200 OKResponse
{
  "sent": true,
  "message": "Sent to [email protected]",
  "description": "Message has been sent to the provider",
  "id": "wamid.HBgLMzgwNjM5..."
}
  • sent

    Accepted for sending — not yet on the customer's phone

  • id

    Store it; delivery callbacks and hookInfo are keyed on this

Delivery statuses and webhooks →

Common errors

StatusAPI responseCauseFix
200Message was not sent: template is not definednamespace, template or language is missing from the request body.Send all three. Take namespace and the exact template name from GET /templates; language is an object: {"policy": "deterministic", "code": "en"}.
200template name (…) does not exist in <language>The template is approved in a different language than the one requested.Use the exact language code the template was approved in (for example es_MX is not the same as es). Check it in GET /templates.
200Message was not sent: provide chatId, phone, bsuid, or usernameNo recipient the channel could resolve.Pass exactly one recipient: phone (country code plus number, digits only), chatId (for example [email protected]) or bsuid.

All error codes →

Common questions

Related

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