Message Size Limits and Unicode

Normal GSM-7 messages have a 160 character limit. Messages exceeding this length will be automatically concatenated, and the corresponding quantity of credits will be deducted.

All messages with characters outside of the GSM-7 standard will automatically be converted to Unicode. Unicode messages have a 70 character limit. Messages exceeding this length will be automatically concatenated, and the corresponding quantity of credits will be deducted.

In order to keep costs low, Swift recommends keeping messages under 160 characters in length and to avoid using characters outside of the GSM-7 character set whenever possible.