Send bulk SMS
Bearer ds_live_ / ds_test_POST
/api/v1/merchant/sms/sendSends one SMS to up to 10,000 numbers. You are charged per page per recipient: one page is up to 160 characters; longer messages use 153 characters per page.
Language
curl -X POST "https://finaldatasub.com/api/v1/merchant/sms/send" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer ds_live_YOUR_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-H "Accept: application/json" \
-d '{
"reference": "SMS-20261005-01",
"sender": "AdaStores",
"recipients": [
"08031234567",
"08123456789"
],
"message": "Your order has been delivered. Thank you!"
}'Authentication
Send your secret API key in the header. Authorization: Token … and X-API-Key: … are also accepted.
| Header | Value | Required |
|---|---|---|
| Authorization | Bearer ds_live_YOUR_KEY | Yes |
| Content-Type | application/json | Yes |
| Accept | application/json | Recommended |
Authentication failures (401 UNAUTHORIZED, 403 IP_NOT_ALLOWED / ACCOUNT_SUSPENDED / API_ACCESS_NOT_APPROVED, 429 RATE_LIMITED) are listed in Authentication.
Parameters
Body parameters
| Name | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| reference | string | Yes | Your unique order reference and idempotency key (max 128 chars). Re-sending it returns the original transaction and never charges twice. |
| sender | string | Yes | Sender id, max 11 characters (letters, numbers, space, dot, dash). |
| recipients | array | string | Yes | Array of numbers, or a comma / space / semicolon separated string. Duplicates are removed. |
| message | string | Yes | Message text, max 918 characters. |
| dnd | boolean | No | Route through the DND-compliant channel (default false). |
| biller | string | No | Specific SMS biller slug (defaults to the active SMS route). |
| narration | string | No | Note stored on the transaction (max 255 chars). |
Responses
201 Created — Successful · 202 Accepted — Pending · 422 Unprocessable Entity — Failed (refunded)
{
"status": "successful",
"reference": "SMS-20261005-01",
"channel": "api",
"transaction_id": "DS261005104230P7Q8R9S0",
"category": "bulk_sms",
"message": "Transaction successful.",
"biller": "Bulk SMS",
"biller_slug": "bulk-sms",
"product": "SMS page",
"customer_ref": "2 recipient(s)",
"quantity": 2,
"unit_amount": "4.00",
"amount": "8.00",
"face_amount": "8.00",
"fee": "0.00",
"discount": "0.00",
"total_deducted": "8.00",
"balance_before": "3343.00",
"balance_after": "3335.00",
"provider_reference": "PRV-88215420",
"purchased_at": "2026-10-05T10:42:30+01:00"
}Errors
Errors specific to this endpoint, in addition to the authentication and validation errors common to every request.
| Code | HTTP | When |
|---|---|---|
| INVALID_RECIPIENTS | 400 | One or more numbers are invalid, or there are 0 / more than 10,000 recipients. Nothing is charged. |
| INVALID_SENDER | 400 | Sender id is longer than 11 characters or has unsupported characters. |
| BILLER_NOT_FOUND | 404 | Unknown or inactive biller / network. |
| SERVICE_UNAVAILABLE | 503 | The service or biller is disabled or temporarily unavailable. |
| INVALID_AMOUNT | 400 | Amount is zero or outside the biller's minimum / maximum. |
| DAILY_LIMIT_EXCEEDED | 429 | Your daily spend limit for this service is reached. |
| TIER_MAX_BALANCE / TIER_DAILY_LIMIT / TIER_MONTHLY_LIMIT | 429 | An account tier limit is reached. Upgrade KYC to raise it. |
| INSUFFICIENT_BALANCE | 402 | Wallet balance is too low for this purchase. |
| WALLET_INACTIVE | 403 | Your wallet is frozen or not active. |
| WALLET_BUSY | 409 | Another request is updating your wallet. Retry with the same reference. |
| TRANSACTION_FAILED | 422 | The provider could not deliver. Your wallet was refunded. |
| DUPLICATE | 200 / 202 / 409 | The reference was already used. The original transaction is returned. |
Notes
quantityis recipients × pages. SMS recipients are never saved as beneficiaries.