Official Business Account (OBA) or green badge
In contrast to the regular Business Account, an Official Business Account will receive a green checkmark (green tick) badge in the WhatsApp profile.
WARNING Please read this document carefully if you wish to apply for a Official Business Account (OBA), known also as green badge or green tick ✓
Types of accounts
A WhatsApp Business Account is your company’s way to communicate directly with customers. There are two types of WhatsApp Enterprise Accounts. The Business Account and the Official Business Account. They often get confused, because of course the simple Business Account also has to be verified by WhatsApp, therefore is it still is somehow official. However, the term “official” here is reserved for a certain amount of Business Accounts that meet certain criteria.
WhatsApp Business Account
Any account using the WhatsApp Business API or the WhatsApp enterprise app will automatically be listed as a Business Account. WhatsApp verifies the authenticity of a brand for each account in the WhatsApp Business API.
If your WhatsApp Account is a Business Account, the Display Name is only shown in the Contacts view (in a smaller font size). In all other views, the phone number is displayed.
As long as the number is not saved to contacts only the number is shown. But WhatsApp made it easier to save Business Accounts. The user just has to click on the number, the WhatsApp profile information opens up and when clicking on “adding contact” all the details are pre-filled automatically.
Official WhatsApp Business Account
In contrast to the regular Business Account, the Official Business Account will receive a green checkmark badge in its profile and the name of the business is visible in the chat list, chat screens and contacts view instead of the phone number, even if the user hasn’t added the business to their address book.
This is WhatsApp’s way of confirming that an authentic, reputable brand is the owner of this account. Only a few companies will have an official company account. The decision is based on a variety of factors, such as whether the brand is notable. It is not possible to pay to turn a Business account into an Official business account.
Requirements for approval
To receive the OBA status, the company needs to reach a number of notability requirements. This is why Official Business Account applications rarely get approved. Please apply for an OBA only if you’re sure that your business is notorious and impactful enough for Meta’s requirements.
Understanding Notability
Notability requires a business to represent a well-known, often searched brand or entity. This should not be taken as a signal of the authenticity of the business. A business is considered authentic if they have gone through the Business Verification which verifies the business as a legal entity and their access to the business.
Notability, on the other hand, reflects a substantial presence in online news articles. Notability is assessed based on an account’s presence in news articles from publications with sizable audiences. Meta does not consider paid or promotional content as sources for review, including business or app listings.
Official business accounts are issued at the phone number and display name level. Meta assesses notability for the Display Name of the business account that is requesting OBA status —If the display name is changed after receiving the OBA status, the account will need to go through the approval process again.
Additionally, previous OBA approvals within a WhatsApp Business Account do not guarantee approval for other numbers (with different display names) associated with that account. If your WABA contains one main parent brand and the phone number associated with that brand meet notability requirements, we suggest updating the display names for the child brands as follows: _
Denied Requests
If your OBA request has been denied, it means the Meta team has carefully 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 90 days before submitting another Official Business Account request —It may take time to build the business’s presence in news articles as described above.
In the meantime, this decision doesn’t limit your ability to share your business details. Each phone number also has a business profile which includes profile picture, email, website, and business description. These are fields that you can edit at any time.
Requirements for application
If you want to apply for an Official Business Account you will need:
- 2-factor verification enabled on the WhatsApp Client (For MeherY clients, we take care of this step)
- Valid Meta Business ID with verified Business Manager
- A Brand that doesn’t violate WhatsApp’s policies, especially its Commerce Policy
- Reach Quality Tier 2
There might be other internal criteria or standards which is not publicly shared by WhatsApp.
If your company has the requirements shared above, please submit your application to MeherY
Please note that MeherY cannot guarantee that any account will be promoted to an Official Business Account. The review process is conducted by the WhatsApp API Support Team and can take up to 7 days.
If your application is successful, the account will be upgraded automatically so there will be no further action required.