Short answer
Transactional SMS is a non-marketing message triggered by a customer's action or account event, such as an OTP, order confirmation or payment alert. Promotional SMS markets products or offers. Promotional messages face stricter rules: opt-in consent, an opt-out, quiet hours and, in the UAE, an AD- prefix on the sender ID.
How do the two types compare?
| Aspect | Transactional SMS | Promotional SMS |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Service: OTPs, alerts, confirmations | Marketing: offers, launches, reminders to buy |
| Consent | Expected as part of the service | Verifiable opt-in required in the UAE and Saudi Arabia |
| Opt-out | Not usually required | STOP or ايقاف in every UAE promotional SMS |
| Sending hours | Any time | UAE: not 21:00 to 07:00. KSA: not 22:00 to 09:00 |
| UAE sender ID | ACME | AD-ACME |
What decides which type a message is?
The content decides, not the sender's intention. An order confirmation is transactional; add "use code SAVE10 on your next order" and many rules treat it as promotional. Keep offers out of service messages so they are never delayed or blocked.
How should I set up my sending?
- Register separate sender IDs for transactional and promotional traffic where the market requires it.
- Tag each campaign or API call with its type.
- Apply quiet hours, opt-in checks and suppression lists to promotional sends only.
- Keep OTPs and alerts on a separate priority so a bulk campaign never delays them.
What about Ramadan and other markets?
CST's spam regulations move the Saudi promotional ban to 01:00 to 12:00 during Ramadan. Rules in other countries differ, so confirm the categories with your provider for each destination. OmniChannels.ai confirms each country's sender ID categories at onboarding.