During the onboarding and registration process, WhatsApp reviews your business application and grants access to the WhatsApp network at its discretion.

Types of Business Accounts

WhatsApp recognizes two types of business accounts:

1.Business Account

• Any account using the WhatsApp Business Platform or WhatsApp Business App is a business account.

• The display name is only shown in the contacts view in smaller text - all other views show the phone number.

• If the account is Business Verified, the business display name will also be visible.

• No blue checkmark is shown in either case.

2. Official Business Account

• If WhatsApp has verified that an authentic, notable brand owns the account, it gets the status of an Official Business Account.

• Instead of the phone number, your verified business name is visible in the chat list, chat screens, chat groups, and contact view.

• A blue checkmark is shown next to your business name.

Applying for an Official Business Account

Prerequisites

WhatsApp reviews and approves your application for an official business account based on several factors. A business must:

• Adhere to WhatsApp's Commerce and Business policies.

• Be notable.

• Have gone through business verification.

• Have set up 2FA (2-step verification).

• Have an approved display name.

Steps to apply for an official business account

1. Access WhatsApp Manager from Meta Business Manager.

2. Under the Overview section, select the phone number for which you want to request the official business account.

3. Click the Submit Request button and complete the required information as requested.

• You can submit up to five supporting links. The links must be from renowned publications (e.g., Economic Times, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Wikipedia, Business Insider) to show that the business is notable.

• Fields like country(s) of operation, parent business, and primary language help WhatsApp to further understand your brand and eligibility.

Once WhatsApp has reviewed your request, you will receive a notification informing you whether your account has been granted OBA. If your request is rejected, this decision cannot be appealed and you can submit a new request after 30 days.

WhatsApp does not grant Official Business Accounts to business employees, test accounts, and Business App accounts. Official Business Accounts are only available to WhatsApp Business Platform users at this time since accounts on the Business App do not go through Business Verification.

Please note: WhatsApp does not share all their criteria for approval of this request and we cannot guarantee approval for our customers.

For more information, please see Meta's documentation here.

On-behalf-of model

If you are still on the legacy on-behalf-of (OBO) model and cannot follow the steps above, please reach out to Clickatell's Support Team to assist you in applying for a blue checkmark with WhatsApp on your behalf.

Please note: WhatsApp does not share all their criteria for approval of this request and we cannot guarantee approval for our customers.

To be considered for an official business account, WhatsApp requests that at least the following information must be submitted as part of the Support ticket:

• Facebook Business verification check: Provide a screenshot showing your verified Facebook account status.

• Business Facebook Page URL.

• Business website.

• Business name in languages other than English (if any).