FAQ

Account changes

After an account is created, can I change my phone number?

There is no way to "swap" or "change" a number outright. If you need to make a change to your number you should first add the correct number in the Hub. When the correct number is registered, you can then cancel the subscription for the incorrect number.

Be aware that new phone numbers will start again at the lowest quality tier and will be automatically upgraded to higher tiers as more messages are sent.

Business Approval

What are the requirements for a business to be approved for WhatsApp?

Compliance with WhatsApp policies and use cases that respect the WhatsApp guidelines. WhatsApp requires compliance with the following:

• WhatsApp Business Solution Terms

• WhatsApp Business Solution Policy

• Commerce Policy

What are possible reasons why my business might not get pre-approval?

a) You offer or sell

• Illegal, prescription, or recreational drugs, including marijuana

• Tobacco products and related paraphernalia

• Unsafe supplements

• Weapons, ammunition, or explosives

• Animals

• Adult items or services

• Alcohol

• Adult health items

• Real money gambling services

• Goods, items, or posts that we determine may be or are fraudulent, misleading, deceptive, or offensive

• Items or products with overtly sexualized positioning

• Products or items that facilitate or encourage unauthorized access to digital media which do not comply with Facebook's policies

b) Your audience might be younger than 16.

c) You request a phone number for countries or regions where WhatsApp/Facebook do not operate. See the Blocked Countries list below.

Which countries are blocked from using the WhatsApp Business API?

There are some countries that WhatsApp excludes from communicating with WhatsApp for Business numbers. Phone numbers from the following countries are blocked:

• Crimea (+7978)

• Donetsk (+7856)

• Luhansk (+7857)

• Cuba (+53)

• Iran (+98)

• North Korea (+850)

• Syria (+963)

• Donetsk (+7856)

• Luhansk (+7857)

Hosting

What are the On-premise hosting terms of the WhatsApp Business API account?

The WhatsApp stack consists of

• a message gateway that represents the encrypted endpoint (WACORE)

• an API-gateway that is used to configure settings and to send and receive messages and (WAWEB)

• a database to store messages and files.

For 360Dialog On-Premise hosting type, the default deployment will happen to Google's Cloud Platform hosting centre in Frankfurt, Germany.

Please go to Help and Support for more deployment options and locations.

Where are the servers for the Cloud API?

The following regions are currently supported by Cloud API Local Storage:

• APAC: India, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, Japan, Australia

• LATAM: Brazil

• MEA: South Africa, Bahrain

• Europe: EU (Germany), UK, Switzerland

• NORAM: Canada

When migrating or onboarding your number to the Cloud API, you must specify the local storage region during the process. With local storage enabled, the Cloud API stores message content in the selected region instead of its default storage in the US.

If local storage is not defined or disabled, the Cloud API will default to its US-based storage.

See more information in our documentation here.

Messaging

Can I access the profile picture (=avatar) of the WhatsApp user?

No, there is no such feature.

Can I use location sharing?

WhatsApp Business API supports location sharing, but real-time location sharing is currently unsupported and will result in “Message type is unsupported”.

Does the server need to access the internet through 80/443 port?

Our servers are working only in HTTP SSL connection on port 443 (standard for HTTPS).

Can my API accounts message another API account?

No, that is not possible. Since the API system is a programming language, accounts that are connected to an API system can only message accounts that are connected to an APP system, and not to another API system.