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WhatsApp: Business account and verification
The WhatsApp Business account, number and display name your agent uses, how Meta's business verification is run as part of implementation, and what your team provides.
On this page
Before the agent can message your customers on WhatsApp, your business needs a WhatsApp Business account, a phone number registered to it, a display name Meta has accepted, and, for any serious volume of outbound messages, Meta's business verification. Telonic runs the Meta verification process with you as part of implementation. Your team provides the business documents and access, and the account, the number and the name remain your organisation's.
Verification is the step most organisations underestimate. Its timing is set by Meta, not by you or by us, so we start it at the beginning of implementation rather than the end.
What your business needs on WhatsApp
| Item | What it is | Who owns it |
|---|---|---|
| Business portfolio | Your organisation's account in Meta Business Manager (Meta's tool for managing a business's accounts, people and permissions) | Your organisation |
| WhatsApp Business account | The account that holds your WhatsApp numbers, display names and message templates | Your organisation |
| Phone number | The number customers message, and the number your messages come from | Your organisation |
| Display name | The business name customers see on your messages, reviewed by Meta | Your organisation |
| Business profile | Your description, address, website and opening hours, shown when a customer taps your name | Your organisation |
If you already have some of these, we use them. If you have none, we set them up with your administrators.
Business verification, run as part of implementation
Business verification is Meta's check that your organisation is who it says it is. Meta compares the details in your business portfolio with your company documents, and confirms that you control the contact details you gave.
We run the process with your team:
- Prepare. We confirm your organisation's legal name, address, phone number, email address and website exactly as they appear on your registration documents. Small differences, such as an abbreviation in the legal name, are the most common reason for a request to be returned.
- Gather documents. Your team provides the documents Meta asks for, such as a trade licence or certificate of incorporation, and a document showing your address.
- Submit. A person with administrator access to your business portfolio submits the request in Meta Business Manager, with our guidance, or grants us the access to prepare it.
- Confirm. Meta sends a confirmation code to a contact point you listed, such as your business email or phone number, and your team enters it.
- Decision. Meta reviews the request and approves it or asks for more information. We handle any follow-up with you.
How long verification takes is set by Meta and varies from case to case. Many organisations do not expect it to take as long as it can. We raise it at the start of implementation so that it runs alongside the rest of the work rather than holding up your first outbound messages.
What verification affects
Verification changes what your number can do, not whether customers can message you.
| Area | Before verification | After verification |
|---|---|---|
| Customers you can contact first | A lower limit on how many different customers your business can contact first in a rolling 24-hour period | A higher limit, which Meta raises further as customers respond well to your messages |
| Replies to customers who message you | Available | Available |
| Display name | Reviewed by Meta | Reviewed by Meta, and eligible for Meta's verified badge |
| Numbers on your account | Meta limits how many numbers you can add | More numbers can be added |
Meta's limits apply across all the numbers in your business portfolio, not to each number separately. The agent paces outbound messages to stay within whatever limit applies. See Message templates and outbound messages.
Your display name
Your display name is the business name customers see. Meta reviews it and expects it to match your business or a brand your business clearly owns, such as "Qamar Stays" or "Qamar Stays Reservations". A generic name, or one that suggests a different organisation, is usually rejected.
Meta also reviews any change to an approved display name. We agree the name with your brand and legal teams before it is submitted, in Arabic and English where you use both in your business profile.
Some verified businesses can also apply for Meta's verified badge, a mark shown next to the business name. Meta decides who receives it, on its own criteria.
Choosing and moving a number
The number must be one your organisation owns and controls, and it must be able to receive a call or an SMS so Meta can send a registration code. A landline or a contact centre number works, and customers can keep calling it as before.
| Where the number is today | What happens |
|---|---|
| Not used on WhatsApp | Registered directly to your WhatsApp Business account |
| On the WhatsApp or WhatsApp Business app on a phone | Meta's process for moving a number from the app applies. We agree with you what happens to existing chats before anything changes |
| With another business solution provider or platform | Moved between WhatsApp Business accounts using Meta's migration process, or connected where it is, through that provider |
Because Meta's options for moving a number change from time to time, we confirm the right route for each number with you during implementation, and nothing is moved until you approve it.
If you already use a business solution provider
Many organisations in the region already send WhatsApp messages through a business solution provider (a company Meta authorises to connect businesses to WhatsApp). Telonic connects through your existing provider if you have one, so your number, account and templates can stay where they are. Otherwise, Telonic connects directly through Meta's Cloud API (the interface Meta provides for software to send and receive WhatsApp messages).
The technical detail
- Access is granted in Meta Business Manager. Your administrators give Telonic the access it needs to your WhatsApp Business account, and can review or remove it there.
- Each registered number is protected by a two-step verification PIN (a code Meta requires to register or re-register the number). Your organisation holds it.
- Messages and status updates reach your deployment as webhooks (automatic notifications one system sends to another) over TLS (Transport Layer Security, the standard encryption for data in transit) version 1.2 or higher.
- Meta receives, processes and briefly stores WhatsApp messages on its own infrastructure before they reach your deployment. From that point, processing runs in your chosen region. See Hosting and data residency.
In practice
Wadi Assurance, a motor and home insurer in Dubai, wants the agent to chase missing claim documents on WhatsApp.
- In the first implementation meeting, we check its business portfolio. The legal name reads "Wadi Assurance PJSC", but the trade licence reads "Wadi Assurance P.J.S.C.". The portfolio is corrected before anything is submitted.
- Its compliance team provides the trade licence and a recent utility bill. Its Meta Business Manager administrator submits the verification request, and enters the confirmation code sent to the company email address.
- While Meta reviews the request, the claims system is connected and the document reminder templates are drafted in Arabic and English.
- The display name "Wadi Assurance Claims" is submitted and accepted. The claims number, already used for calls, is registered for WhatsApp.
- Verification is approved before go-live, so the first document reminders go out on the day the agent goes live, to policyholders who have agreed to WhatsApp updates.
What your team provides
| What we need | Why | Who usually owns it |
|---|---|---|
| Administrator access to your business portfolio in Meta Business Manager, or a named administrator to work with us | Verification and account set-up need an administrator | Marketing, digital or IT |
| Your organisation's legal name, address, phone, email and website, as on your registration documents | Meta matches these to your documents | Legal or company secretary |
| Documents Meta asks for, such as a trade licence and proof of address | Evidence for verification | Legal or finance |
| The number or numbers to register, and access to receive a registration code | Registers the number to your account | Telephony or IT |
| The display name and business profile, approved internally | What customers see | Brand and legal |
| Details of any existing business solution provider | Decides how Telonic connects | Digital or IT |
Related
- WhatsApp: overviewChannels
- WhatsApp: message templates and outbound messagesChannels
- WhatsApp: opt-in, opt-out and consentChannels
- What we need from your IT teamIntegrations
- ImplementationCommercial
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