Meta processes guide: FBM verification, Official Business Account (OBA) requests, Appeals

Gustavo Mejicanos Updated by Gustavo Mejicanos

This article will serve as a guide for different Meta Processes, like Facebook Business Verification, Official Business Account requests or Appeals.

Each process has some prerequisites and points to keep in mind before starting.

Facebook Business Manager Verification

While this process is optional, business verification helps Meta confirm that your account belongs to a legitimate business or organization, and to access certain products, Meta may ask you to verify your business.

Keeping this in mind, you might want to verify their Facebook Business Manager (FBM) for 3 main reasons:

  • To increase the limitation of 2 phone numbers per WABA (WhatsApp Channel)
  • To increase the limitation on business initiated (BI) conversations
  • To request an Official Business Account (OBA ✅)
To initiate the Facebook Business Verification of your account, you need to have full admin access to the Facebook Business Manager.

To start the business verification process:
  1. Go to Security Centre in Business Manager.
  2. Click Start verification.
    You may have received a notification to begin verification in another platform, such as Meta Ads Manager, Commerce Manager, or the App Developer Dashboard.
  3. Provide your business's details, including the legal business name, address, phone number, and website.
    Make sure that the details you submit exactly match the details of your legal business entity. Also, make sure that your business's website loads and is HTTPS compliant.
  4. Select the correct business from the list or select None of these match if you can't see your business on the list and upload supporting documents, such as a business license or articles of incorporation, to confirm the details you entered.
  5. Choose to receive a verification code on your business phone number via a text message or phone, or via email.
    Note that the phone number option may not be available in all countries. If you don't receive the verification code, you can request to receive another code. If you're still having problems getting your verification code, learn more about how to troubleshoot phone call issues.
  6. Enter the verification code.
  7. Click on Submit.

After you've submitted your verification, a decision can be made in as little as 10 minutes and as long as 14 working days, and you will receive a notification when the review is complete.

Business can’t be verified - Troubleshooting

After submitting documentation for the verification process, you can check your business verification status in the Security Centre in the Business Manager.

If your business can not be verified it might be due to 2 reasons:

  1. Meta needs more information to verify your business: for example, docs are in a language that is unsupported by Meta, documents aren’t viewable, expired, or missing, and/or the information shared doesn’t match (business name, address, phone...).
  2. Business verification submission was rejected: Meta may prevent a business from being verified if the submission does not meet the requirements for verification.

This could include:

  • Submitting, or being suspected of submitting false or misleading information.
  • Attempting to claim or verify a business account you don't own or have authorization to represent.
  • Trying to circumvent Meta's verification review system.
  • Having a website that fails to load, is not HTTPS compliant or contains a link that leads to an error message.

If your business verification application was rejected, you may be eligible to appeal. Visit the Security Centre or return to where you began the verification process to learn more about the status of your verification.

Official Business Account (OBA ✅)

An official Business Account can be requested by any company. However, it will only be given to clients that Meta deems as Notable. The more information provided, the higher the chances of obtaining an OBA.

WhatsApp OBAs are issued for phone numbers. With the same phone number, you can use the current or a new business name to apply for the WhatsApp official business account.

If your WhatsApp account becomes an OBA, there will be a green checkmark (✅) next to the displayed name in the contacts view, and the name of the business is visible even if the user has not added the business to their contacts.

Before requesting an OBA, you need to make sure that:

To start an OBA request:
  1. Go to the Phone numbers tab of your Meta Business Manager.
  2. Search for the name or WABA ID in the drop-down menu in the top right corner.
  3. Click on Settings ⚙️.
  4. In the left menu, select Profile.
  5. Under Official Business Account, click on Submit Request.
  6. Fill out the form:
    • Business Website
    • Reason for OBA request
    • Links to articles, social media and other info that show the account is notable (optional but recommended)
    • Name in original language if business name is in a language other than english (optional)
    • Link to FB page (optional)
  7. Click on Submit.

Once Meta completes reviewing your OBA request, you’ll receive a notification that informs whether your business has been granted the Official Business Account or not. If rejected, you can submit a new request after 30 days.

Appeals

Meta could limit or offboard phone numbers that repeatedly violate the WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy, the WhatsApp Commerce Policy, or the WhatsApp Business Terms of Service.

You can find your phone number quality rating in the Phone Numbers tab of the Meta WhatsApp Business Manager. The Quality Rating column displays the quality levels, which include:

Green: high quality.

Yellow: medium quality.

Red: low quality.

If you have received a notification stating that your WhatsApp Business account has violated one of the policies, you will be able to review the details of the violation and submit an appeal.

All violations can be appealed within 90 days of being received.

If your WhatsApp Business Account is banned, the phone numbers that belong to that account will be automatically deactivated.

If you believe your business is actually compliant with WhatsApp policies, you can appeal the violation by requesting a review. Then, the WhatsApp team reviews the case against the violation appealed to come up with a decision if the violation needs to be reconsidered. This review may result in WhatsApp reversing the violation.

To request a decision review:
  1. From the Business Support Home page, click on the relevant WhatsApp Business Account.
  2. Choose from the list of violations and click Request Review.
  3. A new dialog opens in Business Manager. Enter supporting details and click Submit.
  4. After submission, the request and the issue are moved to the In Review tab.
  5. The appeal review decision will be sent via Business Manager and typically takes 24 to 48 hours. The appealed violation will either remain Unchanged, or be set as Reversed.

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