Register on WhatsApp using Self Sign-up

You will need:

• An upgraded Twilio Account. If you are new to Twilio, create a free account and upgrade it by linking a payment method.
• A WhatsApp-compatible phone number. For more information on compatibility, see "Which Twilio Phone Numbers are Compatible with WhatsApp?".
• An existing Meta Business Portfolio (formerly called a Meta Business Manager or Business Account), whenever possible.

Before you proceed, check if anyone in your company has already created a Meta Business Portfolio. Typically, it's someone within the marketing department.

If your company has a Meta Business Portfolio already created, then a user with access will need to invite you as an administrator with full access, so that you have permission to create WhatsApp Business Accounts (WABAs) during the signup process or they will need to sign into the Twilio Console and complete the following steps.

If your company does NOT already have a Meta Business Portfolio, or if you cannot be added with administrator access to an existing one, then you will be able to create one using the process below. However, you will need to complete Meta Business Verification afterwards before you can move into production which requires submitting legal documents to Meta.

Let's get started!

1. Click here or navigate to Messaging > Senders > WhatsApp senders. This will take you to the WhatsApp Senders section of the console where you will create your WhatsApp sender.
2. Click Get Started.
3. Check the box to agree to WhatsApp's Terms of Service and click Confirm.

4. Next, select or enter the phone number you wish to connect to WhatsApp. You may use your Twilio Number or your own phone number.

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5. Once you have selected / entered the phone number you wish to use, click Continue.
6. Then click Continue with Facebook

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7. Log into Facebook if you haven't already or click Continue as [your name] if you're already signed in. After logging in, you will be shown an overview of the process to connect your number to WhatsApp.

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8. Facebook will then ask you to allow Twilio to manage your WhatsApp Business Account. Click Continue to proceed.

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9. On the next screen, select your the Meta Business Portfolio for your business from the list. If you don't have one, you may create a new one by selecting the option Create a Business Portfolio.

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10. Create or select your WhatsApp Business Account (WABA):

• If this is the first WhatsApp Sender you are onboarding in this Twilio account or subaccount:

  • Select Create a new WhatsApp Business Account. Do not select WABAs created outside of Twilio.

• OR if you are onboarding an additional WhatsApp Sender in the same Twilio account or subaccount:

  • You MUST select the same WABA ID as shown in the Twilio Console window. Twilio requires all WhatsApp Senders in an account to be within the same WABA and maintains a 1 to 1 relationship between a Twilio account and a WABA.

• Since you are onboarding a new WhatsApp Sender, select Create a new WhatsApp Business profile.

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11. On the next screen, you will need to enter in the following information:

• WhatsApp Business Account Name - This is only used for internal purposes and is not consumer facing. If you had selected a WABA on the previous screen, you will not be able to change the name here.

• WhatsApp Business display name - This is what your customers will see. It MUST meet the requirements set by WhatsApp.

• Category - Select the category that best describes your business. This is shown to consumers when they view your profile and can be updated later in the Twilio Console.

• You may optionally click Show more options and fill out the below. These fields can be also be added or updated in the Twilio Console later:

  • Business Description - This is also shown to consumers when viewing your profile in the WhatsApp application.

  • Website - This is also shown to consumers when viewing your profile in the WhatsApp application. Once you register your WhatsApp Sender, you will have the ability to add an additional website if you wish.

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12. Meta requires you to verify phone number ownership as a part of the registration process. This is done by sending a verification code using either SMS or an automated voice call. Follow the instructions below based on the type of phone number you using for your WhatsApp Sender:

13. Once your phone number is verified by Meta, you may continue to click next until the pop-up window closes. The Twilio Console should then begin the last steps required to complete the registration. This process may take up to 2 minutes.

14. After 2 minutes, if the Twilio Console has not refreshed automatically, please refresh the page. Upon successful registration, your number will be displayed. You may click Edit Sender to use a messaging service, set your inbound message webhooks or update the rest of your WhatsApp Business profile including your profile picture.

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While you can start messaging customers immediately. You will need to complete Meta Business Verification when you are ready to scale in production, request to have your WhatsApp Sender become an Official Business Account (i.e. green checkmark), or to have the WhatsApp Sender's display name appear in the WhatsApp client instead of the phone number. See below on how to complete Meta Business Verification.

If you or someone in your company has already verified your Meta Business Portfolio previously, you will not need to complete this step again.

To check your Meta Business Portfolio's verification status or to start the process:

1. Navigate to the Security Center within the Meta Business Portfolio that's listed on the WhatsApp Senders page in the Twilio Console.

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2. If your Meta Business Portfolio is already verified, it will display when it was verified.

3. Click the Start or Continue button under in the Verification section. If the button is unable to be clicked, make sure you have onboarded a WhatsApp Sender first.

You may be required to upload supporting documents to verify your business. See Meta's guide on uploading official documents to verify your business for more information.

To onboard additional numbers, you need to repeat this process, while taking care to select the same Meta Business Portfolio account and WhatsApp Business Account. The Meta Business Portfolio (formerly called Business Manager) and WhatsApp Business Account currently linked to your Twilio account are shown in the Twilio Console.

Please note that until you complete Meta Business Verification, some numbers may stay in a pending status and cannot be used to send messages. After completing Meta Business Verification, you may need to delete the WhatsApp senders and go through the process again to onboard them completely.

• Why am I still seeing a notice in the Twilio Console about completing verification when my Meta Business Verification is completed? After completing Meta Business Verification, you may still see a notice directing you to complete verification. This is safe to ignore if you have already completed it.

• What happens if I do not complete Meta Business Verification?
  You will be limited to two WhatsApp senders, and each sender is limited to starting 250 business-initiated conversations within a 24-hour period. You also must be verified before you can apply for an Official Business Account (OBA) status (green checkmark).

• Can I submit templates through the WhatsApp Business Manager?
  No, please submit templates through the Twilio Console. If you submit a template directly through the WhatsApp Business Manager, it may not stay in sync with your Twilio account and may cause messages utilizing the template to fail.

Last updated July 2024