Official WhatsApp Business Account

WhatsApp strictly uses business verification and authentication to protect its end users from spam and fake accounts. Therefore, three types of business accounts are available:

• Business account
• Verified business account
• Official business account

Business Account

By default, any account using the WhatsApp Business Platform or WhatsApp Business App is a business account.

If your WhatsApp account is a business account, the display name is only shown in the contacts view in smaller text; all other views will show the phone number. You can help customers learn more about your company by filling out your business info, including business website, address, and hours.

Verified Business Account

WhatsApp verifies authenticity of a brand for every account on the WhatsApp Business Platform. If the account has completed Business Verification, the name of the business is visible even if the user hasn't added the business to their address book.

That’s to make it clear to end users that they’re communicating with a business, not a personal account. That’s also why you can’t use WhatsApp for business with a currently used phone number on WhatsApp.

How to apply

To apply for WhatsApp Business Verification:

1. Go to WhatsApp Business Manager’s Security Center and click Start verification.
2. Provide your business’s details, including the legal business name, address, phone number and website. Make sure the details you submit exactly match the details of your legal business entity. Also make sure your business’s website loads and is HTTPS compliant.
3. Confirm your business’s details.
If no matching record is found, upload supporting documents, such as a business license or articles of incorporation, to confirm the details you entered.
4. Choose a method to confirm your connection. A confirmation code will be sent if you choose email, phone, text message or WhatsApp. To confirm via domain verification, follow these steps.
   1. Email (The domain of your business email address must match the domain of your website.)
   2. Phone
   3. Text message
   4. WhatsApp message
   5. Domain verification (You must have admin access to your site's web host or DNS provider.)
5.  When you finish the steps, click Done.

Tips & Tricks

• The uploaded documents must match with the legal company name and address on your web site.
• Meta is controlling and trying match all fields name and address to approve from the uploaded documents with web pages and FBM informations, if they are not matching the verification will not be approved.
• Verification usually replied in 3-14 days with informing via mail to your admin email account.
• If verification is not approved then you need to apply again with the read the rejection message of why it is not approved and carefully understand of the Meta requests and, change accordingly to apply again.

Official Business Account

If your WhatsApp account is an official business account, there will be a green checkmark beside the displayed name in the contacts view.

An official business account does not indicate that WhatsApp endorses this business. It only means that the business represents a well-known, often searched person, brand or entity on the internet. 

It shows users the account is authentic and perfectly safe to interact with, so you get more engagement and fewer negative reactions like blocks. 

Eligibility for a green tick on WhatsApp

The criteria for WhatsApp Official Business Accounts (OBA) is based on a number of factors and is different from policies on other platforms. In addition to following WhatsApp's Commerce and Business Policies, businesses need to be:

• Notable: Represents a well-known business, often searched brand or entity.
• Verified: Has gone through Business Verification, and
• 2FA: Has set up two-step verification.

How to apply

To apply for a green tick for your WhatsApp Business Account from Insider's InOne panel, 

1. Navigate to WhatsApp > Settings > Integration.
2. Click + Request under the Green Checkmark field.
   
3. Check the field of Official business account and click Submit Request.
4. Fill in the information carefully.
   

Once Meta reviewed the request, you will receive a notification letting know if the account has been granted OBA or not. If the request is rejected, you can submit a new request after 30 days.

Meta 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.

Denied requests

Businesses can continue to grow their presence and wait 30 days before submitting another Official Business Account request. Building the business's presence in news articles may take time.

In the meantime, this decision does not limit the ability to share your business details. Each phone number also has a business profile, including the profile picture, email, website, and business description. These are fields that you can edit at any time.

Tips & Tricks

It is very important to fill all the fields. Supporting links are the critical fields that are being reviewed to approve your business is reputable from other parties as well. Do not put any links there including:

• Your web page link,
• Any social media link,
• Self published, paid or promotional links.