Facebook Verification Process for WhatsApp Business API

6 minute read                                                                                                                         Beginner

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Video Tutorial

Note- We recorded this video somedays back while working with an org. We will re-record a better one in future

What is Facebook Business Manager ?

A Facebook Business Manager Account is a tool that helps businesses manage their Facebook pages, accounts, and other assets in one place.

It allows you to control who has access to your business information and simplifies the process of collaborating with team members, agencies, or partners.

How to create of Facebook Business Manager Account?

Any personal Facebook account can be used for business verification, but the Facebook Page must match the legal documents in terms of name and address.

To create your Facebook Manager or claim it for an existing page : Click here to know how to Create a Business Manager

How to create a Facebook Page ?

Click here to know how to Create a Facebook Page

How to link your existing or new Facebook Business Page to Facebook Business Account: ?

To link an existing or new Facebook business page to your Facebook business account:

• Open your Facebook business account: https://business.facebook.com/

• Open Business Settings > Accounts > Pages and click on Add

• Select Add a Page

• Select Add an existing Facebook page

• Complete few steps as shown in the below screenhsot and the page will be added to your facebook business account

How to verify your domain with Facebook ?

• Go to the Business Settings on the left hand side.

• Navigate to Brand Safety and Suitability

• Under this section, you should find an option for Domain

• Click on Add a domain

• Select Request access to your domain

• You will get have to complete the three options as shown in the screeshot and verify your domain.

Additional Notes on Adding a Domain:

When adding a domain, only include the domain name itself without "www." at the beginning. For example, if your domain is "www.example.org," you should enter it as "example.org."

What is Business Verification ?

Business verification ensures that a Business Manager account is associated with a genuine business or organization.

This process verifies two key aspects:

• To verify the legal name of the business
• To verify the legal address or phone number (Note: The phone number should not be linked to a WhatsApp account).

You will have to upload the official documents to prove your business is registered. Facebook Business Manager takes a maximum of 3-4 working days to get verified by Meta.

Which documents are accepted for Facebook Business Verification?

• Certificate/Articles of incorporation
• Business registration or license document
• Government-issued business tax document
• Business bank statement
• Utility bill

Branding Consistency

For smooth FB verification to happen, it is very important for your organization branding to be consistent with your registered entity name. Here are a few guidelines/workaround for the same-

1. Your Facebook page and domain name should be exactly the same or close to the registered business name. If that's not the case, For eg- Glific Two-Way Communication Inc. is the registered name but the Facebook page name is Glific, and the website is www.glific.org, and email id is info@glific.org, then you would need to explicitly mention on your website about page that "Your organization name is Glific Two-Way Communication Inc. but popularly goes by the brand Glific". You may add it in any words you'd like but it needs to be very clearly mentioned.

2. This applies also to cases where you may have subsidiary programs such as Chat for change is the program by Glific which has an FB page, website, etc…but the registration certificate is in the name of Glific Two-Way Communication Inc. You would need to get approval for the registered business entity.

3. Once this is done, you can give a specific display name to the chatbot which is relevant to the program and not the main entity. So, the chatbot name can be Chat for change but again, it should show a clear connection with the main entity Glific Two-Way Communication.

4. Since you may also need to later verify your domain(website) you need access to your website codebase or have a valid email id for the domain such as info@domain.com

Things to keep ready before Facebook Verification:

Below are the 4 things you need to keep handy before you start FB verification, as you would need to add these details at different points in verification.

1. Registration certification- Required to verify the registered name and branding (you can read more about this in next session)

2. Utility bill (Electricity bill/Internet/Mobile bill)- Required to verify the name of the organization, the address, and phone number i.e (BOT number). If the BOT number is not available. Please match the exact address

3. Bank statement- Required to verify the organization name and address.

4. Phone number on which you would like to run the chatbot Make sure that this phone number should not be associated with WhatsApp Business or WhatsApp application. Needs to be active for the use so that you can get sms/call for verification. It could be running on a basic monthly plan.

Steps to complete Facebook Verification Process:

1. Log in using a Facebook account connected to your Business Page.

2. Access Meta Business Suite

3. Click on the downward-facing arrow in the top-left corner of the Facebook interface to open the dropdown menu.

4. Choose your Business name from the dropdown.

5. Click on Settings sign right to your bussniess name.

6. If the settings icon isn’t visible, it’s likely that you don’t have a Business Portfolio yet. In that case, click on Create Business Portfolio.

7. Fill in all the required details, and once submitted, you should see the Business Settings icon next to your business name.

8. Click on Business Settings icon and go to Busniess Info

9. In the Business Setting section, you will find options to update your business details, including the Legal Business Name, Address,and Contact Number.

   Note: The address you enter should match the document you'll be submitting for verification

10. Click on View Details next to the Business verification status.

11. Sometimes, the ‘Start Verification’ button may be greyed out or show as Ineligible for Verification. In such cases, you will need to create an account on Gupshup and complete a few steps.

12. Please follow this link for how to Setup and Organisation on Gupshup

13. Once the Gupshup app goes live, return to the Facebook page, and the Start Verification button will be enabled. If it was previously marked as Ineligible, it will change to Start Verification.

14. If the Start Verification button is enabled, proceed with the below steps and then continue with creating an app on Gupshup.

15. Then go to the Security Centre page on Facebook business manager. You should find the start verification button activated. In case it doesn't get activated instantly, you may give it some time. If it's taking longer than a few hours, contact us.

16. If you still don't see or get access to start verification, go to News Pages in your business manager, add your page and then click on verify your business.

17. The process is straightforward after that. You will be required to verify your business by uploading some documents. Please refer to this document for verification guidance: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HhcirTBjhiYdXcOUFg04uJG4yxL8vpq-/view?usp=sharing/

18. As the doc will mention, using Certificate of registration is highly recommended to not get the approval process rejected. Please make sure your provided business details exactly match with the detail in the document.

19. Once done, Facebook will take 3-4 working days to review and you will receive an email once this is done. The button in the Security Centre will also have changed. Please reach out to us in case it's taking more than a week. We'll reach out to FB to expedite the process.