Effective October 15, 2024, CTIA and the US Short Code Registry will be introducing a new requirement when leasing new short codes or when manually renewing short code leases, necessitating all brands to undergo vetting. This new vetting process will provide additional transparency for brands associated with each short code campaigns, which will benefit all stakeholders while further protecting consumers and maintaining the short code’s reputation as a trusted messaging channel.
Initial vetting and resubmissions should expect a processing time of 72 business hours and gradually down to 24-48 business hours. Brands will only need to be vetted once and short code leasing will be available only after a successful vetting result. However, in the event of a lease transfer, the brand will need to submit a new vetting request with the new lease holder. There is no additional charge to this new feature and it will not impact short code throughput.
The following Brand Client information will be required:
Legal Company Name
Legal Entity Type
Doing Business As
Country of Registration
Stock Market Symbol
Company Website URL
Federal Tax ID
DUNS, GIIN, LEI (if applicable)
Brand Client Address
Country
Street Address
City
State/Province
Zip/Postal Code
Brand Client Point of Contact
First Name
Last Name
Phone Number
Email
How about existing short codes?
Brand client details for existing short codes, that is on auto-renewal or monthly billing, will be required to undergo the new vetting process by Q1 2025. Brands will have sixty (60) days after the auto-renewal date of the short code to complete the required fields. Short codes that are not updated within that timeframe will be subject to non-compliance audit and may be suspended or terminated.
Sinch will start collecting this information in the near future. Please contact your account manager for more information.
What will contribute to a successful vetting result?
Ensure that the Tax ID matches the exact Legal Company Name registered with the IRS, which can be found in the EIN Confirmation Letter. The address entered should also be the same as what is registered with the IRS. If you do not enter the information exactly as it appears in the EIN Confirmation Letter, your brand will be in an “Incomplete” state and you will not be able to lease the short code until the issue is resolved.
For entities with international presence, please specify the Tax ID and the country of registration. For entities in Canada, please provide the first 9 numeric digits of the Business Number (BN-9) when providing brand client details.
US Tax ID, company name and address can be validated using the following resources:
Public business entities: Public business lookup (EDGAR)
Nonprofit entities: IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search
Private business entities: If you are a private business in the US, here is a list of private business lookup by state:
State
Lookup Database Title
Alabama
Alabama Business Entity
Alaska
Alaska Corporations Database
Arizona
Arizona eCorp Business Entity Search
Arkansas
Arkansas Business Entity Search
California
California Business Search
Colorado
Colorado Business Database Search
Connecticut
Connecticut Business Inquiry Search
Delaware
Delaware Business Entity Search
District of Columbia
District of Columbia Business Filings Search (login required)
Florida
Florida Business Name Search
Georgia
Georgia Business Search
Hawaii
Hawaii Business Entity & Documents Search
Idaho
Idaho Business Entity Search
Illinois
Illinois Corporation & LLC Search
Indiana
Indiana Business Search
Iowa
Iowa Business Entities Search
Kansas
Kansas Business Entity Search Station (BESS)
Kentucky
Kentucky FastTrack Business Organization Search
Louisiana
Louisiana Business Filings Search
Maine
Maine Corporate Name Search
Maryland
Maryland Business Entity Search
Massachusetts
Massachusetts Business Entity Search
Michigan
Michigan Business Entity Search
Minnesota
Minnesota Search Business Filings
Mississippi
Mississippi Business Search
Missouri
Missouri Business Entity Search
Montana
Montana Business Entities Search
Nebraska
Nebraska Corporation and Business Search
Nevada
Nevada Business Search
New Hampshire
New Hampshire QuickStart Business Search
New Jersey
New Jersey Business Entity Name Search
New Mexico
New Mexico Business Search
New York
New York Corporation & Business Entity Database
North Carolina
North Carolina Corporate Name Search
North Dakota
North Dakota Business Search
Ohio
Ohio Business Search
Oklahoma
Oklahoma Search Corporation Entities
Oregon
Oregon Business Name Search
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Business Entity Search
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico Búsqueda de Corporaciones
Rhode Island
Rhode Island Corporate Database
South Carolina
South Carolina Business Name Search
South Dakota
South Dakota Business Information Search
Tennessee
Tennessee Business Information Search
Texas
Texas Taxable Entity Search
Utah
Utah Business Name Search
Vermont
Vermont Business Search
Virginia
Virginia Business Entity Search
Washington
Washington Corporations Search
West Virginia
West Virginia Business Entity Search
Wisconsin
Wisconsin Search Corporate Records
Wyoming
Wyoming Business Entity Search
Canadian Tax ID, company name and address can be validated using the following resources:
Canada business registries search
Canada federal corporation search
Europe, Eastern Europe, North Atlantic, Middle East, South America, and APAC Tax ID, company name and address can be validated using the following resources:
Europe: VIES VAT number validation - European Commission
Australia: Australian Business Register (ABN) lookup Note: provide your ABN (Australian Business Number) not your ACN (Australian Company Number) as your Tax ID for brand registration purposes.
For more information, please check out CTIA and The Short Code Registry's FAQs page or their summary below:
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