Display Name

When you add a new phone number to your WhatsApp account in the Facebook Business Manager, you assign it a display name. Depending on the type of business account, the display name will be shown to the user in different places.

This document covers:

• Setting Up Your Display Name
  • Display Name Guidelines
• Types of Business Accounts
  • How Your Business Appears to Users
  • Requesting an Official Business Account

Setting Up Your Display Name

When you add a new phone number to your WhatsApp account in the Facebook Business Manager, you assign it a display name. The display name is required to create a certificate, which the WhatsApp Business API client will not work without. See Set up a Phone Number for your WhatsApp Business Account for more information about setting up a phone number and display name.

You can either get a base64-encoded certificate or you can download a certificate file. Keep it safe as it will be necessary for registration. For information on how to obtain your certificate, see the Registration documentation.

Display Name Guidelines

All display names should have a relationship with your business and should not violate WhatsApp Commerce or Business policies. Having display names compliant with our guidelines is a requirement to qualify for WhatsApp official business accounts.

Accurate Representation of Your Business

A display name should represent:

• A business or an organization
  • Organizations include: charitable organizations, churches/parishes, professional associations, media organizations, and not-for-profit organizations
• A business service, a department, a test account, or a demo account

A display name should not be:

• an individual's full name
• a generic term (e.g., Fashion)
• a generic geographic location (e.g., New York)
• a slogan or a long description

Grammatical Rules

A display name must:

• Not have variations on capitalization, must have grammatically correct capitalization, and may not include all capitals, except for acronyms
  For example:
  • Accepted: New City Computers
  • Not accepted: NEW CITY COMPUTERS
• Not have variations with spacing
  An example for a business called "Lil'Cupcakes":
  • Accepted: Lil'Cupcakes
  • Not accepted: Lil' Cupcakes (a space (' ') is added when an external business name does not contain one)
• Not have any extra punctuation
• Not include emojis
• Not include character symbols such as trademark designations
• Must contain a minimum of 3 characters
  An example for a business, “KKT Sir”:
  • Accepted: KKT Sir
  • Not accepted: Kkt
• Not be in URL format

Note: These rules do not apply if a business or an organization already brands this way.

Types of Business Accounts

There are two types of WhatsApp business accounts:

How Your Business Appears to Users

Depending on your business account type, users will see different things. If a user has already saved the business number in their address book, the name from the address book will always be displayed. The phone number will still be visible in the contacts view. Please be prepared for users who may try to call this number and have a plan for how to handle these incoming calls.

Official Business Account

If your WhatsApp account is an official business account, the display name will be visible in the chat list, chat screens, chat groups, and contacts view instead of the phone number. There will be a green checkmark beside the displayed name in the contacts view.

Business Account

If your WhatsApp account is a business account, the display name will only be shown in the contacts view in smaller text; all other views will show the phone number. You can help customers learn more about your company by filling out your business info, including business website, address, and hours.

Requesting an Official Business Account

Please follow these instructions to request an official business account. For accounts managed by business solution providers, the process is initiated by the solution providers.

1. Access Direct Support from your Business Manager.
2. Click the Ask a Question button in the top right corner.
3. Select WABiz: Request official business account status and fill out the required information.
4. If you have not set up two-factor verification for the phone number you want verified, follow the instructions in the Two-Step Verification documentation to enable it.
5. If you have not completed Facebook Business Verification, see Verify Your Business for more information.

The request status will be available under Direct Support in Business Manager.

Note: We do not grant official business accounts to business employees or test accounts.