Official Business Account
If your WhatsApp account is an official business account, the display name is visible in the chat list, chat screens, chat groups, and contacts view instead of the phone number. There will also be a green checkmark beside the displayed name in the contacts view.
How It Works
WhatsApp has verified that an authentic, notable brand owns this account.
The criteria for WhatsApp Official Business Accounts (OBA) is based on a number of factors and is different from policies on other platforms. In addition to following WhatsApp's Commerce and Business Policies, businesses need to be:
Understanding Notability
Notability requires a business to represent a well-known, often searched brand or entity. This should not be taken as a signal of the authenticity of the business. A business is considered authentic if they have gone through the Business Verification which verifies the business as a legal entity and their access to the business.
Notability, on the other hand, reflects substantial presence in online news articles. Notability is assessed based on an account’s presence in news articles from publications with sizable audiences. Whatsapp does not consider paid or promotional content as sources for review, including business or app listings.
Official business accounts are issued at the phone number and display name level. Whatsapp assess notability for the Display Name of the business account that is requesting OBA status.
Denied Requests
If your OBA request has been denied, it means Whatsapp team has carefully reviewed your account, and unfortunately, your account is not eligible for the OBA status at this time. Currently, these decisions cannot be appealed.
Businesses can continue to grow their presence and wait 30 days before submitting another Official Business Account request. It may take time to build the business's presence in news articles as described above.