Sender IDs

The from field on every SMS is a sender ID — the name that shows up on the recipient’s phone instead of a number.

{ "from": "9bits", "to": ["2348020000000"], "content": "Your code is 481920." }

Every sender ID must be approved first

This is a network operator requirement, not a 9bits one. Nigerian operators require alphanumeric sender IDs to be registered and approved to prevent impersonation and fraud.

Sending with an unapproved ID fails:

{
  "error": {
    "type": "validation_error",
    "code": "sender_id_invalid",
    "message": "sender ID '9bits' is not approved for this account"
  }
}

Start this before you write any code

Approval goes through the operators and typically takes a business day or more. It’s the one part of getting started that you cannot rush, and it blocks your first real send.

Register your sender ID on day one, then build the integration while it’s in review.

Register one

In the dashboard: Messaging → Sender IDs → Add Sender ID. Submit the ID and what you’ll use it for, and we take it to the operators.

You can list your approved IDs from the dashboard at any time.

Rules

Rule	Detail
Length	Up to 11 characters. Longer IDs are truncated by the operator.
Characters	Letters and digits. Avoid spaces and punctuation.
Case	Preserved — 9bits and 9BITS display as typed.

What gets approved

Approved: your registered business or product name — something a recipient would recognise and connect to a message they expected.

Rejected:

• Names you don’t own — a bank, a telco, a government agency. This is the main thing approval exists to stop.
• Generic words like INFO, ALERT, VERIFY, OTP. They’re unattributable, so they’re a phishing vector.
• Anything misleading about who’s sending.

Pick one and stick to it

Recipients learn to trust a sender ID over time. Rotating between 9bits, 9bitsNG and 9BITS-OTP splits that recognition three ways, trains people to accept unfamiliar senders, and means three separate approvals.

One ID per brand. Use it for everything.

Choosing per message

You can use any approved ID in from, per request — useful when one account sends for several brands:

await sendSMS({ from: 'ShopNG',  to, content: 'Your order shipped.' });
await sendSMS({ from: 'ShopNGHR', to, content: 'Your payslip is ready.' });

Both must be approved on the account first.

Numeric senders

A shortcode or long number can also be a sender, but that’s a different product with different semantics — the recipient can reply to it, and you receive their message.

That’s VAS & Two-Way SMS.