If your WhatsApp account is an official business account there will be a green checkmark beside the displayed name in the contacts view.
How It Works
WhatsApp has verified that an authentic, notable brand owns this account.
Facebook's 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.
Requesting an Official Business Account
Follow these instructions to request an official business account in your Facebook Business Manager:
- Access WhatsApp Manager from your Business Manager. Click on the phone number for which you want to request OBA within the Overview section
- Turn on 2 step verification for this phone number to apply for OBA. Please note your Business Verification and Display Name approval needs to be complete before applying for OBA
- If you have not set up two-factor verification for the phone number you want verified, follow the instructions in Two-Step Verification to enable it
- If you have not completed Business Verification, see Verify Your Business for more information
- Click on Submit Request Button and fill out the required information.
- You can submit up to 5 supporting links especially from renowned publications (e.g., India Today, Economic times, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Wikipedia, Business Insider) to show that the business is notable, which helps us determine notability.
- Fields like Country(s) of operation, parent business or brand (esp. if it is a well known brand) and Primary language helps us to further understand your brand and eligibility for OBA.
Once Facebook has reviewed your request, you will receive a notification letting you know if your account has been granted OBA or not. If your request is rejected, you can submit a new request after 30 days.
Facebook 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
If your OBA request has been denied, it means that Facebook has reviewed your account, and unfortunately, your account is not eligible for the OBA status at this time. Currently, these decisions cannot be appealed.
Businesses can continue to grow their presence and wait 30 days before submitting another Official Business Account request. It may take time to build the business's presence in news articles as described above.
