• An RCS Business Profile turns a phone number into a verified brand identity. Logo, name, description, and verification badge replace the anonymous sender ID that defines SMS.
• Verified identity drives trust, which drives engagement. Brands that show up with a verified RCS Business Profile see meaningfully higher engagement than equivalent SMS sends.
• iOS and Android both support RCS Business Profiles. With Apple's RCS rollout in iOS, a properly designed Business Profile now reaches users across ecosystems.
• Treat the profile like a landing page. Customers will tap it to verify legitimacy. Make sure what they see (name, description, contact info, verification status) reinforces credibility and answers "why am I getting this message?"
For years, brand messaging has lived in a strange limbo.
On one hand, we obsess over pixel-perfect in-app experiences, carefully designed onboarding flows, and brand consistency across every digital surface. On the other hand, one of our most powerful customer touchpoints—text messaging—has largely reduced brands to… a phone number.
RCS changes that, and at the center of that shift is the RCS Business Profile, a verified sender identity that lets businesses display their name, logo, and brand colors directly in the messaging thread.
If you’re evaluating RCS (or actively designing campaigns already), understanding how your brand actually appears to users—on Android and iOS—is perhaps the most compelling reason to move beyond SMS.
If you’re interested in exploring (and borrowing) some ready-made RCS building blocks, this community Figma file includes the essential RCS components you need to mock messages and prototype flows.
The difference between a number and a name
An RCS Business Profile is your brand’s verified identity inside the native messaging inbox.
Instead of showing up as an unknown number or a bare sender ID (like SMS), RCS lets brands present a rich, trusted contact card that includes:
- Brand name (not a number)
- Logo and brand imagery
- Business description
- Contact details and support links
- Verification indicators (depending on carrier and device)
Suddenly, your customers go from receiving “a message” to opening (and owning) their own branded conversation space; one that is instantly recognizable and easy to return to with confidence.
Trust is decided before the message is read
Do not underestimate the power of the blue checkmark.
In a world where users are constantly on guard against phishing, scams, and spam, verification signals do real psychological work:
- “This brand is legitimate.”
- “This message is safe to engage with.”
- “I’ve interacted with them before.”
That trust compounds over time. The more consistently you show up as a verified sender through RCS messaging, the more your messages feel like a service rather than something users ignore or delete on instinct.
How RCS Business Profiles look to Android users (in Google Messages)
On Android devices with RCS enabled through Google Messages and supported carriers, RCS Business Profiles are built directly into the messaging experience.
From the user’s perspective, tapping on your brand logo reveals verified business details:
- Your brand name, logo, and banner appear as a verified, trusted contact
- Contact information appears for easy access to call, visit your website, or email
- Full control over notification preferences, privacy settings, and more
How RCS Business Profiles look to iPhone users (iOS 18 and Later)
With Apple’s support for RCS in iOS, the messaging landscape has finally converged.
While the visual presentation differs slightly from Android, the core value holds: conversations, and by extension the entire customer relationship, feel more intentional and trustworthy than SMS.
The key shift for brands is this: your messaging identity now travels with you across ecosystems.
Remember, designing with RCS Business Profiles in mind is less about optimizing for one OS. It’s about future-proofing how your brand shows up in the most personal inbox your customers have.
A few rules of the road…
Before you jump into layouts, buttons, and message flows, get these fundamentals right:
- Treat your RCS profile like a landing page
Your logo, name, and description should be instantly recognizable and aligned with your app or product, not your legal entity. - Design for recognition, not novelty
This isn’t the place to experiment with edgy branding. Familiarity drives trust. - Assume users will tap your profile
Make sure what they see reinforces credibility and answers “Why am I getting this message?” - Plan for cross-platform consistency
Even if UI details vary across Android and iOS, your brand voice, visuals, and core message should feel consistent, so users have the same experience regardless of their device.
See it, before you send it
This is exactly why we released the free RCS Community Figma Kit.
It’s designed to help teams:
- Visualize how branded RCS messages actually appear
- Design with Business Profiles in mind from day one
- Align marketing, product, and design teams around a shared source of truth
If RCS is going to be part of your messaging strategy, design shouldn’t be an afterthought—it should be the starting point.
Bookmark the free RCS Figma Kit!
Text marketing has grown up. And it finally looks the part.
RCS messaging is one of the clearest signs that brand communication has moved from one-off blasts to ongoing, trusted conversations of the kind users expect from modern apps and services.
OneSignal makes that shift practical, giving teams the tools to build branded, cross-channel messaging experiences without sacrificing speed, control, or scale.
If you’re ready to start designing, and sending, messages that actually look and feel like your brand, now’s the time to get started. We’ll even help you get approved for RCS fast.
Frequently asked questions
What is an RCS Business Profile?
An RCS Business Profile is a verified brand identity that appears inside the native messaging inbox on RCS-enabled devices. Instead of seeing a phone number, customers see your brand name, logo, description, contact details, and a verification indicator, turning anonymous text messages into branded, trusted conversations.
How does an RCS Business Profile differ from an SMS sender ID?
An SMS sender ID is typically a numeric short code or long code with no brand information attached. An RCS Business Profile includes a verified brand name, logo, banner image, business description, contact details, and trust indicators. This gives customers a full brand experience inside their messaging app rather than an anonymous number.
Do RCS Business Profiles work on iPhone?
Yes. With Apple's adoption of RCS in iOS, RCS Business Profiles now appear on iPhones in addition to Android devices. The visual presentation differs slightly between platforms, but the core value, verified brand identity inside the native messaging inbox, works on both.
How do brands get verified for an RCS Business Profile?
Verification is handled by Google and the carriers, with an application process that includes brand asset submission, business identity verification, and use case review. Approval typically takes several weeks. Working with an RCS-enabled platform like OneSignal can streamline the process and reduce time-to-launch.
What's included in an RCS Business Profile?
A complete RCS Business Profile typically includes brand name, logo, banner image, business description, contact information (phone, email, website), category, and verification indicators. On supported devices, customers also see a verified checkmark as an additional trust signal.
Why does verified RCS messaging outperform SMS?
Verified RCS messaging outperforms SMS because trust is decided before the message is read. Customers seeing a recognized brand identity with a verified logo and name engage at higher rates than they do with an anonymous sender number, especially in an environment where phishing and SMS fraud are common.
