WhatsApp Business API

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, without which the WhatsApp Business API client will not work.

This document covers:

You will assign a display name to your phone number and submit it for review by the WhatsApp team from your Business Manager. You can change the display name up to three times in the first 30 days; once you have reached that limit, you must wait 30 days before submitting a name change again.

Setting Up Your Display Name

See Set up a Phone Number for your WhatsApp Business Account for more information about setting up a phone number and display name.

Display Name Guidelines

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

Below are five principles for display names and guidance for best practices to avoid formatting errors.

PrincipleExamples

Compliance with policies

A display name should not violate WhatsApp Commerce and Business policies. An example for a store that sells wine glasses:

  • Accepted: ABC Wine Glasses
  • Not accepted: ABC Wine

Within your company, you may have separate WhatsApp business accounts for different divisions; only those divisions that are compliant with WhatsApp’s Commerce Policy may have a WhatsApp business account.

Accurate representation of your business

A display name should represent:

  • A business or its service, product, or department
  • A test account or a demo account and it must maintain an association to the business (e.g., Fresh Produce Test)

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

An organization with a government affiliation needs the WhatsApp team's approval

Consistency with external branding

A display name must have consistent branding with external sources (e.g., a company's website or marketing). An example for a product line named "Fresh Produce Cold Pressed Juices":

  • Accepted: Fresh Produce Cold Pressed Juices (how it is branded on your website)
  • Not accepted: Fresh Produce Juices (you changed branding by removing "Cold Pressed")
  • Not accepted: FP Cold Pressed Juices (you added an abbreviation to the company name inconsistent with external branding)

Clear relationship with your business

A display name must have a clear relationship with your business (must be referred on the business's website or external media references). For example:

  • Accepted: Name of a charity mentioned on a non-profit organization's website
  • Not accepted: Name of a charity not mentioned on any external websites

If the relationship between your company and the brand is not obvious, indicate the relationship using “by [company name].”

  • Not accepted: Fruit Snacks (Fresh Produce owns the Fruit Snacks brand but their association is not mentioned on any external websites)
  • Accepted: Fruit Snacks by Fresh Produce

Do not use the name of a management agency or other third-party in your company’s display name.

  • Not accepted: Alpha Agency for Fresh Produce

Correct formatting, in compliance with the rules set forth below

See Formatting Guidelines below.

Formatting Guidelines

Your display name will be rejected if there are formatting errors so it is important to comply with the following rules. (Note: These rules do not apply if a business or an organization already brands this way. In that case, the display name may incorporate punctuation, capitalization, etc. that matches the external branding.)

Formatting RuleExamples

A display name may not be in all capitals, must have grammatically correct capitalization, and should match the capitalization used in your business name.

For example:

  • Accepted: New City Computers
  • Not accepted: NEW CITY COMPUTERS

Note that this display name would be acceptable if the business already brands using all caps.

Do not change the spacing from the spacing used in your business name.

An example for a business called "Lil'Cupcakes":

  • Accepted: Lil'Cupcakes
  • Not accepted: Lil' Cupcakes (a space has been added between "Lil’" and "Cupcakes" when the external business name does not contain one)

Do not add any extra punctuation, emojis, or character symbols (such as trademark designations).

For example:

  • Not accepted: @New City Computers
  • Not accepted: New City Computers™

Do not add extra words to your company or brand name unless the words indicate:

  • country or region;
  • department or function; or
  • “Test” or “Demo” accounts.

For example:

  • Accepted: Fresh Produce Mexico
  • Accepted: Fresh Produce Customer Support
  • Not accepted: Fresh Produce Official Account

If you add permitted words, the first letter of the word must be capitalized.

For example:

  • Accepted: Fresh Produce Test
  • Not accepted: Fresh Produce demo

A display name must contain a minimum of 3 characters.

An example for a business, “KT Sir”:

  • Accepted: KT Sir
  • Not accepted: KT

A display name may not be in URL format.

For example:

  • Not accepted: FreshProduce.com

Types of Business Accounts

There are two types of WhatsApp business accounts:

Name Description

Official Business Account

WhatsApp has verified that an authentic, notable brand owns this account.
An official business account has a green checkmark badge in its profile and chat thread headers. The name of the business is visible even if the user hasn't added the business to their address book.
Very few businesses will be official business accounts.

Business Account

By default, any account using the WhatsApp Business API or WhatsApp Business App is a business account.

WhatsApp verifies authenticity of a brand for every account on the WhatsApp Business API.

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 their address book will always be displayed. The phone number will still be visible in the contacts view.

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.

Official Business Account

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.

Business Account

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.