Completing your Facebook Business verification is an important step if you want to scale up on Whatsapp business API.
As of May 3, 2022, businesses can continue using Whatsapp business API without completing business verification with the following restrictions:
Respond to unlimited customer-initiated conversations (24-hour messaging windows).
Send business-initiated conversations to 50 unique customers in a rolling 24-hour period.
Register up to two (2) phone numbers
However, for businesses where they want to engage a wide consumer base/ host > 2 phone numbers, business verification becomes an important step for scaling up.
How to initiate business verification?
Step 1: Navigate to your Facebook Business Manager account.
Step 2: Click on the settings lever at the bottom left to navigate to “Business Settings”
Step 3: Click on “Security Center”
Step 4: Click on the “Start Verification” button.
Step 5: Fill in your business details on the next screen.
Step 6: Check if your organization is listed in META records.
Step 7: (If your org is not listed) Upload documents to verify your business
The business verification process tries to validate :
Legal Name of the Business
Registered Address/ Phone Number
A business may be asked to provide documents to support the above information.
For India, below is the list of acceptable documents.
Business bank statement
Business License
Certificate of incorporation
Goods and services tax registration certificate(GST)
Permanent Account Number Card (PAN)
Shop establishment certificate
Udyog Aadhar (UID)
Utility bill
If your business is registered outside India. Identify the applicable documents from the list here.
Exotel customers can raise a ticket to hello@exotel.in for any support and guidance required in the business verification process.