Account Structure
Every WhatsApp Business API account is associated to a few other instances that can be managed through the Meta Business Manager, the Partner Hub or the Partner API.
Business Manager account
A Meta Business Manager account is needed for any business to manage their assets in the Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram environment.
A Business Manager account can be created through the URL business.facebook.com or during the Embedded Signup process. You will need to use your Facebook profile. See how here.
It is recommended that:
Users check with all stakeholders if a Business Manager does not exist for the company before creating a new one to avoid duplication.
Users associate all Facebook Pages, Instagram Pages and Ads Accounts to this same Business Manager to avoid loss of information.
Users check if the Business Manager being used is under the company's name and not a third party (like an agency or service company, for example). Do not create a WABA for a company under another company's Business Manager.
Each Business Manager has a specific ID.
A company can have multiple Business Managers, but this is not recommended since one WABA cannot be migrated from one Business Manager to another. A single Business Manager can contain multiple WhatsApp Business Accounts.
You can also share a WhatsApp Business Account with multiple Business Managers, but only one can own the account.
To have full access to the WhatsApp Business API environment, without message sending limits, the Business Manager needs to be verified.
How to find the Business Manager ID
The Business Manager ID (also called Facebook ID, FB ID, Business Manager ID or Business ID) identifies a specific Business Manager Account.
To discover what is your Business Manager's ID, please go to your Business Manager's settings, and then to the Business Info page:
How do I know if this Meta Business Manager ID owns my WhatsApp Business API Account?
If you can see a WhatsApp Account in your Business Manager, this doesn't necessarily mean that it owns the account.
To make sure which Business Manager owns a specific WhatsApp Account, you need to access the WhatsApp Accounts page:
Please note that the ID that appears on the side of the "Owned by" information is not the Business Manager ID. This is the WABA ID, which will be explained in the next topic.
WhatsApp Business Account
The WhatsApp Business Account (also known as WABA) manages the phone numbers registered in the WhatsApp Business environment. There are two different WABA types:
WhatsApp Business App: This account can be created directly in the Facebook Business Manager. It only gives access to the WhatsApp Business App.
WhatsApp Business API: This account can only be created through a BSP like 360Dialog.
Characteristics
How to find the WhatsApp Business Account ID
The WhatsApp Business Account ID (or WABA ID) is shown in the WhatsApp Accounts page:
Phone Number
A Phone Number always needs to be associated to a WhatsApp Account so this accounts can send and receive messages.
For WhatsApp Business API accounts, this number needs to be registered and verified during the signup process with the BSP. If you already have a 360 Client Hub account you can submit multiple phone numbers to a same WABA by following these steps.
A single WABA initially can have 2 phone numbers. This limit can be increased to 20 different phone numbers.
This limit can also be expanded to 120 numbers upon request (filing a support ticket). Within your company, you may have separate WABAs for different divisions. You can have unlimited WABAs under a business manager.
How to manage phone numbers
If you created your account via Embedded Signup, you can see the phone numbers that are registered under a specific WhatsApp Account directly from your Business Manager:
In this page, you will be able to see the status of this number.
To add a new phone number in a WhatsApp Business API account, please do not use the Meta Business Manager. This setup will not work. A new WhatsApp Business API number should always be added from the 360dialog Client Hub dashboard.
2FA (two-factor authentication)
The two-step verification is an extra layer of security to the WhatsApp Business API Client. When the two-step verification is enabled, any attempt to register the phone number on WhatsApp must be accompanied by the six-digit PIN that was created using this feature.
Before you can verify the phone number ownership again you first need to disable two-factor authentication (2FA) for this number. This can be done either by the owner or by the Business Solution Provider, that is currently in charge of this number.
How to confirm if the 2FA is disabled
Any admin user of the WABA can check if the 2FA is disabled in the WhatsApp Business Manager > Phone Numbers > Certificate.
If the certificate appears, it means that the other BSP has disabled the 2FA. If not, it will show like this:
How to request 2FA disablement
Only the Account Owner (or user with admin rights) has permission to enable or disable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA).
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