--- title: "How to Set Up Your WhatsApp Business Account" description: "Set up a WhatsApp Business Account for marketing messages: portfolio, phone number, payment, verification, opt-in and templates — in the order that saves time." url: https://getrapio.com/resources/set-up-whatsapp-business-account/ updated: 2026-10-01 --- [Resources](https://getrapio.com/resources/) › Setting up your account # How to set up your WhatsApp Business Account for marketing messages Everything on Meta's side, from an empty account to a first send — in the order that saves the most time. No code involved. Updated 1 October 2026 · 9 min read In short You need a Facebook account, a business portfolio, a WhatsApp Business Account, a phone number with a display name, a payment method, approved templates and people who agreed to hear from you. Most of it takes about an hour. Two things take weeks — business verification and collecting opt-ins — so start those first. ## Start with what takes longest An hour of set-up, and two jobs that run for weeks. | | How long | Who usually does it | |---|---|---| | Portfolio, account, number, payment | About an hour | Whoever manages the company's Meta accounts | | Business verification | Days to weeks | Someone with the company's legal documents | | Collecting opt-ins | Weeks, and never really finished | Marketing | | Templates | Minutes to 24 hours each | Marketing | Start verification and opt-in collection on day one and do the rest while they run. ## On Meta: Facebook account, portfolio, WhatsApp Business Account Three things, and two of them can be created while you connect your software. **A personal Facebook account that isn't brand new.** Meta won't let a fresh account create a business. The person should be a real admin of the company's [business portfolio](https://getrapio.com/resources/glossary/#business-portfolio), with two-factor authentication on. **A business portfolio and a WhatsApp Business Account.** You can create both in Meta Business Suite, or inside the signup window that opens when you connect a product built on the API. [What a WhatsApp Business Account is.](https://getrapio.com/resources/whatsapp-business-account/) Two choices are permanent. The account's **time zone** is asked when it is created. Its **currency** is set when you attach a payment method, and neither can be changed afterwards. Meta publishes its rates in 16 currencies (as of October 1, 2026) — pick one of them, or every cost comparison will need a conversion. ## Your phone number Decide first where the number will live. **Shared with the Business app** The number stays in the WhatsApp Business app and is used by the API as well. Your team keeps answering on the phone. It sends more slowly than a number that lives only on the API. **Only on the API** The number is registered to the API and stops working in any WhatsApp app. If it is in the Business app today, delete the account there first and wait a few minutes before registering it. Either way the number must be one you own and one that can receive a text or a call. A mobile number is the safe choice: landlines can only be verified by voice call, and short codes can't be used at all. Three things to settle while you add it: **[Display name](https://getrapio.com/resources/glossary/#display-name)** Use your brand name. Meta reviews it automatically once your account reaches a higher messaging limit, and you get ten changes in 30 days (as of October 2026). **Six-digit PIN** Keep it in a password manager. You'll need it to move or delete the number. **Business profile** Picture, description and website — the first screen a customer sees when they open your chat. ## Payment method Attach it to the WhatsApp Business Account, not only to the portfolio. Until a payment method is attached, no template message goes out. The common mistake is adding a card to the business portfolio and stopping there: the account's overview can still say *Payment method not found*. In Meta's billing settings, open the payment methods for your WhatsApp Business Accounts, choose the right account, and add the card there. ## Business verification Optional to start, slow to finish, and only one of two routes to a higher limit. Meta asks for documents that show the company's legal name and address, and proof that you own your domain. The most common reason for rejection is a legal name that doesn't match the portfolio exactly. Verification lets you register twenty phone numbers instead of two (reaching a messaging limit of 2,000 does the same) and, with an approved display name, raises the template quota from 250 to 6,000 per account (as of October 2026). It is also one of Meta's two routes to a higher daily limit — but after verification Meta reviews the quality of your messaging before it approves the increase, and it can defer or decline it. The other route is sending itself: 2,000 delivered messages within 30 days. So apply early, and start sending at 250 rather than waiting. [How the limit grows.](https://getrapio.com/resources/whatsapp-messaging-limits/) ## People who opted in This is the real work, and the part only you can do. Everyone you send a template to must have agreed to receive messages from your business on WhatsApp. The wording should name your business and make clear that messages will come. Meta doesn't check consent at the moment you send; people do, by blocking and reporting, and that pulls down the [quality](https://getrapio.com/resources/glossary/#quality-rating) of everything you send afterwards. [What Meta requires, and what happens without it.](https://getrapio.com/resources/whatsapp-opt-in/) - Ask existing customers by email, with a reason to say yes. - Add a checkbox to sign-up and checkout forms. - Put a QR code or a short link where customers already are — packaging, the till, an email footer. WhatsApp Manager makes up to 2,000 of them per number (as of October 2026). - Keep where and when each person agreed. - Store numbers with their country code, and leave out US numbers: marketing messages aren't delivered there. ## Templates Write them before you need them. A template has to be approved before it can be sent, and review takes anything from minutes to 24 hours. Write two or three versions of your first message so you can compare them. Give every marketing template a quick-reply button that lets people stop. It looks like an invitation to leave, but it works the other way: people who can leave politely don't block or report you. ## Two switches worth checking in WhatsApp Manager Both sit in the alerts on the account's overview page. **Template insights** Turn it on before your first send. Meta collects template statistics only from the moment you agree, so anything sent earlier never shows up. The consent can't be undone. Accounts owned by a business in the European Union or Japan, or using a number from those countries, don't get template statistics at all (as of October 2026); the switch simply isn't there. **Marketing Messages API terms** Accepting them opens Meta's second, optimized route for marketing messages. Same templates, same price. ## Ready check If all of these are true, you can send. On Meta - The phone number shows as connected in WhatsApp Manager. - The display name is set and the PIN is saved. - The account shows a currency and a payment method. - Template insights is on. Your messages - At least one template is approved. - Your list holds people who opted in, with country codes, and no US numbers. Where Rapio fits Rapio is built on the Cloud API and connects to your WhatsApp Business Account through Meta's signup window — you pick or create the account there. After that, it shows what Meta sees: whether the number is registered, whether a payment method is attached, whether template insights is on. Your first send waits until they are. ## Sources 1. [Get started with the WhatsApp Business Platform](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/get-started) — Meta 2. [Embedded Signup](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/embedded-signup/overview) — Meta 3. [Business phone numbers](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/business-phone-numbers/phone-numbers) — Meta 4. [Display names](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/display-names) — Meta 5. [Message templates](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/templates/overview) — Meta 6. [Messaging limits](https://developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/messaging-limits) — Meta ## Keep reading - [WhatsApp Business Account (WABA), explained](https://getrapio.com/resources/whatsapp-business-account/) - [Messaging limits, from 250 to unlimited](https://getrapio.com/resources/whatsapp-messaging-limits/) - [What is the WhatsApp Business API?](https://getrapio.com/resources/whatsapp-business-api/) [Glossary](https://getrapio.com/resources/glossary/) · [All resources](https://getrapio.com/resources/)