A2P 10DLC Vetting and Trust Scoring
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.
This topic complements A2P 10DLC Campaign Registry — registration is step one, vetting and scoring govern what happens after.
The three brand types
Sole Proprietor (SP)
For individuals operating without an EIN. Distinct tier. Hard limits regardless of vetting.
| Constraint | Value | |---|---| | EIN required | No (personal SSN or no tax ID) | | Max campaigns | 1 | | Max phone numbers | 1 | | Daily message limit | 1,000 to T-Mobile, 3,000 to AT&T, lower to others | | Brand fee | $4 one-time | | Campaign fee | $2/month | | MPS throughput | Capped at low/medium tier |
When to choose: solo operators, freelancers, single-line use cases. Cannot scale.
Standard Brand (low/standard)
For registered businesses with an EIN. Default tier on registration.
| Constraint | Value | |---|---| | EIN required | Yes | | Max campaigns | Unlimited (per use case caps) | | Max phone numbers per campaign | 49 | | Daily message limit | Varies by score, typically 200K to T-Mobile | | Brand fee | $4 one-time | | Campaign fee | $10-$15/month per campaign | | MPS throughput | 75 MPS combined across all numbers in campaign |
When to choose: most SMB and mid-market use cases. Default for new registrations.
Enhanced / Vetted Brand
Standard Brand that has passed Enhanced Vetting via WMC Global. Higher trust score, higher throughput.
| Constraint | Value | |---|---| | Enhanced Vetting | Required, $40-$60 one-time | | Daily message limit | Significantly higher, often 2M+ to T-Mobile | | MPS throughput | Up to 225+ MPS | | Campaign approval speed | Faster, often instant | | Filter resilience | Lower carrier-level filtering |
When to choose: any brand sending > 50K msgs/day, marketing-heavy traffic, financial/healthcare sectors needing low filter rates.
How Trust Score is calculated
TCR uses a combination of public-data verification and Enhanced Vetting inputs:
- Business identity match — Brand name, EIN, address, phone match against authoritative databases (D&B, state corporate registries, USPS, IRS).
- Business age — Brands registered <3 years score lower.
- Industry classification (vertical) — Some verticals (debt collection, gambling, alcohol, firearms) score lower by default and may be prohibited entirely.
- Reputation signals — Public web presence, BBB rating if available, complaint history.
- Enhanced Vetting — adds significant points when passed.
Brands rarely see the raw score. They see a tier: Low, Medium, High, Top.
| Tier | Approximate trust score | Sending behavior | |---|---|---| | Low | 0-30 | Tight throughput, heavy filtering, campaign approvals slow | | Medium | 31-50 | Default for newly registered standard brands | | High | 51-75 | Reduced filtering, faster approvals | | Top (Vetted) | 76-100 | Enhanced Vetting passed, premium throughput |
Enhanced Vetting — the process
WMC Global is the TCR-approved third-party vetting partner. Vetting checks:
- Business legitimacy beyond TCR's automated lookups (manual review, document submission)
- Marketing materials and website content
- Use-case alignment between stated campaign and actual messaging behavior
- Domain age and DNS history
- Officer and beneficial-owner identity (KYC-style)
Documents typically requested:
- Articles of Incorporation
- W-9
- Business license
- Recent utility bill at the registered address
- Website that matches the registered brand name
Turnaround: 3-10 business days. Passing rate is high for legitimate businesses; almost zero for shell brands.
Use-case-specific verification
Some use cases require additional verification on top of brand vetting:
| Use case | Extra requirement | |---|---| | 2FA / OTP | Higher throughput auto-granted, low filtering | | Marketing | Must show opt-in flow proof; high filtering on Standard Brands | | Higher Education | Must be accredited institution | | Political | Must register with FEC and state filings | | Charity / 501(c)(3) | Must show IRS determination letter | | Sole Proprietor | Limited to one campaign, no marketing |
Special Use Cases (SUC)
Certain industries require Special Use Case registration:
- Charity — must be 501(c)(3), exempts from some filtering rules but reduced throughput
- Political — election-cycle messaging, requires FEC registration
- Sweepstakes — must have rules URL and entry mechanism
- Emergency Services — high-priority delivery during outages
SUC campaigns cost more ($15-$25/month) and require additional documentation.
Throughput by tier — actual numbers
Approximate per-carrier MPS (messages per second) on a single campaign:
| Tier | T-Mobile MPS | AT&T MPS | Verizon MPS | |---|---|---|---| | Sole Proprietor | 0.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | | Standard - Low | 1.0 | 2.0 | 1.0 | | Standard - Medium | 5.0 | 10.0 | 5.0 | | Standard - High | 15 | 30 | 15 | | Vetted - Top | 75+ | 100+ | 75+ |
Throughput 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.
Daily message limits
Carriers enforce daily caps independent of MPS:
| Tier | T-Mobile daily | AT&T daily | Verizon daily | |---|---|---|---| | Sole Proprietor | 1,000 | 3,000 | 1,000 | | Standard - Low | 25K | 100K | 50K | | Standard - Medium | 100K | 500K | 200K | | Standard - High | 250K | 1M | 500K | | Vetted - Top | 2M+ | 5M+ | 2M+ |
These are per-brand caps, not per-campaign. Sending beyond the cap results in deferred messages or hard rejections from the carrier.
Improving your score
Practical steps to raise trust:
- Pass Enhanced Vetting — single biggest score lift.
- Clean opt-in records — TCR doesn't audit directly, but carriers do during dispute escalation. Clean records mean fewer complaints, which protects your score over time.
- Match the use case to actual traffic — registering "2FA" but sending marketing will get the campaign suspended and lower the brand score.
- Reduce complaint rate — keep opt-out compliance tight, every STOP request honored.
- Avoid prohibited content — SHAFT (Sex, Hate, Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco) flags trigger immediate filter escalation on all carriers.
December 2025 default-off behavior
Newly 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.
Practical 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.
Common failure modes
| Symptom | Cause | Fix | |---|---|---| | 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 | | Marketing campaign approved but messages still throttled | Standard - Low tier, high filtering on marketing vertical | Pass Enhanced Vetting | | Messages to T-Mobile deferred mid-day | Daily cap hit | Split across multiple campaigns or upgrade tier | | New phone number can't send despite campaign approved | Number not yet assigned to campaign in portal | Assign explicitly | | Campaign rejected with vague "vetting failed" | Wrong vertical, mismatched website content, prohibited keywords in description | Revise campaign description; sometimes requires fresh re-submission |
Pricing summary
| Item | Cost | |---|---| | Brand registration | $4 one-time | | Enhanced Vetting (WMC Global) | $40-$60 one-time | | Standard campaign | $10-$15 / month per campaign | | Special Use Case campaign | $15-$25 / month | | Sole Proprietor campaign | $2 / month |
Plus per-message carrier surcharges that vary by tier — Vetted brands pay slightly lower CPM.
Related patterns
- A2P 10DLC campaign registry — registration walkthrough
- SMS best practices — opt-in, opt-out, content rules
- Toll-free and hosted messaging — non-10DLC alternative
References
- The Campaign Registry — Brand and Campaign documentation
- WMC Global — Enhanced Vetting provider
- CTIA Messaging Principles and Best Practices v1.10 (2023)