After a Brand is registered with TCR, it receives a Trust Score (0-100) and an assigned tier. The score and tier determine messages-per-second (MPS) throughput, daily volume caps, and how aggressively carriers filter the brand's traffic. Vetting is the lever that moves brands into higher tiers.
\nThis topic complements A2P 10DLC Campaign Registry — registration is step one, vetting and scoring govern what happens after.
\nFor individuals operating without an EIN. Distinct tier. Hard limits regardless of vetting.
\n| Constraint | Value |\n|---|---|\n| EIN required | No (personal SSN or no tax ID) |\n| Max campaigns | 1 |\n| Max phone numbers | 1 |\n| Daily message limit | 1,000 to T-Mobile, 3,000 to AT&T, lower to others |\n| Brand fee | $4 one-time |\n| Campaign fee | $2/month |\n| MPS throughput | Capped at low/medium tier |
\nWhen to choose: solo operators, freelancers, single-line use cases. Cannot scale.
\nFor registered businesses with an EIN. Default tier on registration.
\n| Constraint | Value |\n|---|---|\n| EIN required | Yes |\n| Max campaigns | Unlimited (per use case caps) |\n| Max phone numbers per campaign | 49 |\n| Daily message limit | Varies by score, typically 200K to T-Mobile |\n| Brand fee | $4 one-time |\n| Campaign fee | $10-$15/month per campaign |\n| MPS throughput | 75 MPS combined across all numbers in campaign |
\nWhen to choose: most SMB and mid-market use cases. Default for new registrations.
\nStandard Brand that has passed Enhanced Vetting via WMC Global. Higher trust score, higher throughput.
\n| Constraint | Value |\n|---|---|\n| Enhanced Vetting | Required, $40-$60 one-time |\n| Daily message limit | Significantly higher, often 2M+ to T-Mobile |\n| MPS throughput | Up to 225+ MPS |\n| Campaign approval speed | Faster, often instant |\n| Filter resilience | Lower carrier-level filtering |
\nWhen to choose: any brand sending > 50K msgs/day, marketing-heavy traffic, financial/healthcare sectors needing low filter rates.
\nTCR uses a combination of public-data verification and Enhanced Vetting inputs:
\nBrands rarely see the raw score. They see a tier: Low, Medium, High, Top.
\n| Tier | Approximate trust score | Sending behavior |\n|---|---|---|\n| Low | 0-30 | Tight throughput, heavy filtering, campaign approvals slow |\n| Medium | 31-50 | Default for newly registered standard brands |\n| High | 51-75 | Reduced filtering, faster approvals |\n| Top (Vetted) | 76-100 | Enhanced Vetting passed, premium throughput |
\nWMC Global is the TCR-approved third-party vetting partner. Vetting checks:
\nDocuments typically requested:
\nTurnaround: 3-10 business days. Passing rate is high for legitimate businesses; almost zero for shell brands.
\nSome use cases require additional verification on top of brand vetting:
\n| Use case | Extra requirement |\n|---|---|\n| 2FA / OTP | Higher throughput auto-granted, low filtering |\n| Marketing | Must show opt-in flow proof; high filtering on Standard Brands |\n| Higher Education | Must be accredited institution |\n| Political | Must register with FEC and state filings |\n| Charity / 501(c)(3) | Must show IRS determination letter |\n| Sole Proprietor | Limited to one campaign, no marketing |
\nCertain industries require Special Use Case registration:
\nSUC campaigns cost more ($15-$25/month) and require additional documentation.
\nApproximate per-carrier MPS (messages per second) on a single campaign:
\n| Tier | T-Mobile MPS | AT&T MPS | Verizon MPS |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| Sole Proprietor | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 |\n| Standard - Low | 1.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 |\n| Standard - Medium | 5.0 | 10.0 | 5.0 |\n| Standard - High | 15 | 30 | 15 |\n| Vetted - Top | 75+ | 100+ | 75+ |
\nThroughput is per campaign, summed across all numbers in that campaign. Adding more numbers to a campaign does not increase MPS — splitting into multiple campaigns does.
\nCarriers enforce daily caps independent of MPS:
\n| Tier | T-Mobile daily | AT&T daily | Verizon daily |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| Sole Proprietor | 1,000 | 3,000 | 1,000 |\n| Standard - Low | 25K | 100K | 50K |\n| Standard - Medium | 100K | 500K | 200K |\n| Standard - High | 250K | 1M | 500K |\n| Vetted - Top | 2M+ | 5M+ | 2M+ |
\nThese are per-brand caps, not per-campaign. Sending beyond the cap results in deferred messages or hard rejections from the carrier.
\nPractical steps to raise trust:
\nNewly purchased SignalWire numbers default to A2P-disabled outbound. Numbers must be explicitly assigned to a registered campaign before they can send SMS to US numbers. Older numbers acquired before this change retain their previous assignment until a TCR enforcement sweep moves them.
\nPractical impact: when buying a new number for an existing campaign, always go to the campaign in the SignalWire portal and explicitly add the number. The number stays in a holding state otherwise.
\n| Symptom | Cause | Fix |\n|---|---|---|\n| Standard Brand stays at Low score after 3 months | EIN/address mismatch with state records | Re-submit Brand with verified address; or pass Enhanced Vetting |\n| Marketing campaign approved but messages still throttled | Standard - Low tier, high filtering on marketing vertical | Pass Enhanced Vetting |\n| Messages to T-Mobile deferred mid-day | Daily cap hit | Split across multiple campaigns or upgrade tier |\n| New phone number can't send despite campaign approved | Number not yet assigned to campaign in portal | Assign explicitly |\n| Campaign rejected with vague \"vetting failed\" | Wrong vertical, mismatched website content, prohibited keywords in description | Revise campaign description; sometimes requires fresh re-submission |
\n| Item | Cost |\n|---|---|\n| Brand registration | $4 one-time |\n| Enhanced Vetting (WMC Global) | $40-$60 one-time |\n| Standard campaign | $10-$15 / month per campaign |\n| Special Use Case campaign | $15-$25 / month |\n| Sole Proprietor campaign | $2 / month |
\nPlus per-message carrier surcharges that vary by tier — Vetted brands pay slightly lower CPM.
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