# Display Names

A display name represents the business name shown to users in chats and notifications. It is intended to help users identify the business they are chatting with.

All display names should have a relationship with the business and should not violate WhatsApp [Commerce and Business](https://business.whatsapp.com/policy) policies. Having a display name compliant with WhatsApp's guidelines is required to send messages using the WhatsApp Business Platform or to qualify for [WhatsApp Official Business Accounts (OBA).](https://docs.360dialog.com/docs/resources/phone-numbers/official-business-account)

When a business first gets started with the WhatsApp Business Platform, their display name may not be immediately visible to users; users may see the business's phone number instead of the business's display name. For a display name to be visible to users:

* [x] The display name must be in the "approved" status, which can be checked in the Meta Business Suite.
* [x] The business associated with the number must have completed [Meta Business Verification](https://docs.360dialog.com/docs/resources/meta-business-verification).
* [x] The account must have an active history of sent messages and maintain a high account quality.

{% hint style="info" %}
Once the business reaches a [high quality messaging](https://docs.360dialog.com/docs/resources/phone-numbers/broken-reference) limit, and has passed the Display Name Review, upon meeting the necessary criteria, the display name will automatically show in the chat.
{% endhint %}

{% hint style="warning" %}
To initiate the display name review of COEX numbers, the business must first apply for [Meta Verified](https://docs.360dialog.com/docs/resources/meta-business-verification/meta-verified-for-business).
{% endhint %}

## Meta Principles for Display Names

{% hint style="warning" %}
Display names must match exactly how your brand appears on your website - including **capitalization**, **spacing**, and **letter casing**.

For example, variations in casing or spacing (e.g., *BrandName*, *Brandname*, *brandname*, *BRANDNAME*, *Brand Name*) will be treated differently.
{% endhint %}

<table><thead><tr><th width="232.43359375"> Principle</th><th>Examples</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Compliance with policies</strong></td><td><p>A display name should not violate WhatsApp <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whatsapp.com%2Flegal%2Fcommerce-policy%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR3TBKk74AS2EqBCzBZQFf3wobRITECLs_oV85o80LavBQnohH0H-esL5jY&#x26;h=AT2tf29a_IM4As5KSZ5d01Js1xlHWh808RXhxcRyPm17ATcpc8yDU4Gl_Vs7bUpQC3z0P8mJeUFGh6plYP1AR4ZdVYeS2rfwe3t3wCWBmFl-5RSKO3wGvRLf1sAETD1foq3gTuf6QslNsipYCFQn3w5xVs1L-zfJ">Commerce</a> and <a href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.whatsapp.com%2Flegal%2Fbusiness-policy%2F%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR0qC8fEqzcEudC2JOjswio04RkswIyBNXSPMA3Hs_z7hj5vN2sUe7my19o&#x26;h=AT3jLrzlDlRN2yeV3aZ6FHjZP6r8y7tYIEenCiC1nWo1WaS9HrTvNa20_Mo_qX3eAtxxD-mXHHhubf_b-voDOgSobFQPiT9vg1e7tPqjlx8j_FO0kw_4KrXKhKZhB3ftMrm1z22qtLBOrzsdtls">Business</a> policies. An example for a store that sells wine glasses:</p><ul><li>Accepted: ABC Wine Glasses</li><li>Not accepted: ABC Wine</li></ul><p>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.</p></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Accurate representation of the business</strong></td><td><p>A display name should represent:</p><ul><li>A business or its service, product, or department</li><li>A test account or a demo account and it must maintain an association to the business (e.g., Fresh Produce Test)</li></ul><p>A display name should not be:</p><ul><li>An individual's full name</li><li>A generic term (e.g., Fashion)</li><li>A generic geographic location (e.g., New York)</li><li>A slogan or a long description</li></ul><p>An organization with a government affiliation needs the WhatsApp team's approval.<br><br>A display name must contain a minimum of 3 characters.</p></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Consistency with external branding</strong></td><td><p>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":</p><ul><li>Accepted: Fresh Produce Cold Pressed Juices (how it is branded on your website)</li><li>Not accepted: Fresh Produce Juices (you changed branding by removing "Cold Pressed")</li><li>Not accepted: FP Cold Pressed Juices (you added an abbreviation to the company name inconsistent with external branding)</li></ul><p></p><p>A display name must have grammatically correct capitalization, and should match the capitalization used in your external branding. Do not change the spacing and do not add any extra punctuation, emojis, or character symbols.</p></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Clear relationship with your business</strong></td><td><p>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:</p><ul><li>Accepted: Name of a charity mentioned on a non-profit organization's website</li><li>Not accepted: Name of a charity not mentioned on any external websites</li></ul><p>If the relationship between your company and the brand is not obvious, indicate the relationship using “by [company name].”</p><ul><li>Not accepted: Fruit Snacks (Fresh Produce owns the Fruit Snacks brand but their association is not mentioned on any external websites)</li><li>Accepted: Fruit Snacks by Fresh Produce</li></ul><p>If the display name represents a business that the company is working with (i.e., if the business is an agency, distributor, partner, or parent company), then the relationship between the business represented in the display name and end-client business must be evident and clear in both parties’ business websites.<br>For example, if Global Voyager signs up for WhatsApp and wants to use the display name Commercial Air, they must submit links to both websites stating that Commercial Air is a subsidiary of Global Voyager.</p></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Legal entity in footer</strong></td><td>If the official name (legal entity) of the company in the documents that were used for Business Verification and naming on the website is different, we recommend to add a mention of a legal entity to the website, for example in the footer: "Business ABC powered by business CDE"</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Working website</strong></td><td>A display name cannot be approved without a working website. The website must be verified in your Meta business portfolio. If your company's website has been changed, the new website must be submitted for verification.</td></tr></tbody></table>

{% hint style="info" %}
Prior to completing registration, you may change the display name as many times as you wish. After registration, you must wait 30 days between any display name change requests.
{% endhint %}

## How to Change Display Name

A phone number's display name is part of its **business profile**. The display name can be changed in either the **360Dialog Hub**, or on **WhatsApp Manager**.

<table data-card-size="large" data-view="cards" data-full-width="false"><thead><tr><th></th><th data-hidden data-card-target data-type="content-ref"></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><h2>360Dialog Hub</h2><p>You can follow the steps in this guide to change a phone number's display name directly in the 360Dialog Hub.</p></td><td><a href="../../hub/business-profiles">business-profiles</a></td></tr><tr><td><h2>WhatsApp Manager</h2><p>You can follow the steps in this guide to change a phone number's display name in Meta's WhatsApp Manager interface.</p></td><td><a href="business-profiles">business-profiles</a></td></tr></tbody></table>