The WhatsApp “green tick”: how a business gets verified.

Green tick, blue tick: what it is

An Official Business Account (OBA), in Meta's words, is a business phone number owned by a business that has been verified as authentic. It shows a blue checkmark beside its name in the contacts view. The status belongs to a phone number on the WhatsApp Business Platform (the API), not to the company as a whole and not to the WhatsApp Business app: Meta does not grant it to business employees, test accounts or WhatsApp Business app numbers.

It also helps people find you: Meta notes that a number without OBA status does not appear when users search for it in WhatsApp, unless they have saved it in their contacts.

Business verification comes first

Business Verification, done in Meta's Business Manager, proves the company behind the portfolio exists. It matters well beyond the checkmark. It is one of the paths that raise your messaging limit from 250 to 2,000 people a day (see WhatsApp messaging limits), and, with an approved display name, it lifts the number of message templates you can keep from 250 to 6,000 per account.

The display name

Every business number has a display name, given when the number is registered. Meta reviews it against its display name guidelines when the number reaches a higher messaging limit; once approved, the name can appear at the top of chats and in the chat list. A display name can be changed 10 times in 30 days; after a change is approved, the number must be re-registered within 14 days, or the name goes back to review. An Official Business Account cannot change its name itself: it has to go through Meta's direct support.

How to apply

1. Open WhatsApp Manager, go to Overview and select the business phone number.
2. Turn on two-step verification if it is not on yet.
3. Under Phone numbers › Profile › Official business account, click Submit Request.
4. Wait for Meta's notification. Through the API, the official_business_account field of the phone number returns the status of the request.

If Meta says no

A refusal means Meta judged that the account does not meet the criteria at this time. You can submit a new request after 30 days. In the meantime, the business profile of the number — picture, description, e-mail and website — can be edited at any time and still tells customers who they are talking to. If you meet all the criteria but see no option to apply, Meta asks you to contact your Meta point of contact, your solution provider or Meta support.

What to do first

• Start business verification on day one. It unlocks the 2,000 limit and the larger template allowance long before the checkmark matters.
• Pick a display name that matches your brand and website. It is reviewed, and changing it later means re-registering the number.
• Treat the checkmark as a bonus, not a launch condition. An agent works without it; customers who save your number see your name either way.