Applying for an official WhatsApp Business Account

Having connected your number to the WhatsApp Business API means you will have a Whatsapp Business Account (WABA), but this is not an 'official' WABA. Do note having an official WABA is not mandatory to use the WhatsApp Business API, but it does give you some extra benefits.

Benefits of an official WABA

With a regular WABA, you’ll be able to display your company information in the description, and your customers will receive an announcement about your business account when you open a conversation with them.

When you have an official WABA, you have access to the functions mentioned above, plus two more benefits. Your company name will be standardly displayed as your default WhatsApp display name for your customers, and a green β€˜checkmark’ icon will be shown behind your display name.

Criteria for an official WABA

It is important to know that WhatsApp is strict and spare in distributing the status of an Official WhatsApp Business Account. The official guidelines for approval are not public, however, below you find presumed criteria WhatsApp looks at.

πŸ”˜ You have a WhatsApp Business Account.

πŸ”˜ You have a valid Facebook Business ID with a verified Facebook Business account.

πŸ”˜ You have been using WhatsApp Business API for at least 3 months.

πŸ”˜ You have at least 1.000 conversations with different customers per day.

πŸ”˜ Your brand does not violate WhatsApp's Commerce Policy.

πŸ”˜ You have already built up (external) brand awareness.

πŸ”˜ You are running ads on your Facebook and/or Instagram page.

πŸ”˜ You have a large following on Facebook and/or Instagram, which indicates brand awareness.

Applying for an official WABA

Trengo
With Trengo as BSP for your WhatsApp number, you can follow these steps provided by Meta. 

360dialog
If 360dialog is your BSP, reach out to 360dialog Support to forward your request to WhatsApp Business. From there on, 360dialog will keep you up to date about the request.