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Guide · How WhatsApp works · For the owner who has been asked about the tick

The WhatsApp blue tick: what an Official Business Account is, who qualifies, and why there is no shortcut

The badge beside a business name on WhatsApp belongs to what Meta calls an Official Business Account. People still ask for the green tick; Meta's documentation today describes a blue checkmark. Either way it is granted after a review, and Meta's process has no purchase step in it.

Published 28 September 2026 · Updated 8 October 2026

What the badge is

An Official Business Account is a business phone number that Meta has reviewed and accepted as an authentic business against a fixed set of conditions. Once granted, a blue checkmark appears beside the number's display name in a customer's contacts view.

Blue, not green

Meta's current page describes the mark as a blue checkmark. If someone promises you the green tick, they are describing the badge by an older name; the thing being applied for is the same Official Business Account status.

The five conditions

Meta lists five things that must all be true before a number is eligible.

  1. The business follows the WhatsApp Business Messaging Policy. Meta's rules on what a business may send and how.
  2. The number has been on the WhatsApp Business Platform for at least 30 days. A brand-new number cannot apply on day one.
  3. The business portfolio has completed Business Verification. The document check that ties the account to a real company. It is the same verification that raises the messaging limit, so it pays for itself twice.
  4. Two-step verification is switched on for the number. A setting in WhatsApp Manager, done in a minute.
  5. The number's display name has been approved. The name customers see must already have passed Meta's display-name review.

Meta does not grant the badge to numbers belonging to individual employees, to test accounts, or to numbers that run on the WhatsApp Business app on a phone. It is a Platform status.

A second route past business verification

Meta's Business Help Center words the verification condition differently from the developer page. It says a business needs either completed business verification or a record of sending high-quality messages across at least 1,000 conversations over 30 days in a row. It also says the approved display name must be the one the number is using when the request is sent.

How to apply

In WhatsApp Manager open Overview and click the business phone number. Turn on two-step verification if it is not already on. Then under Phone numbers, then Profile, then Official business account, click Submit Request. Meta reviews the request and notifies you of the decision.

Meta's Business Help Center gives the same steps starting from Meta Business Suite: choose the business portfolio, click All tools, then WhatsApp Manager, click the number under WhatsApp accounts, and in Profile find Official business account and click Submit request.

If you meet all five conditions and still see no option to apply, Meta's page says to contact Meta Support, or whoever supports your account, to check eligibility.

If the request is declined

Wait 30 days
A declined request can be submitted again after 30 days. Meta's page gives no other route.
Nothing else is lost
A refusal does not limit the number. Customers can still message it and it can still message them.
The profile stays yours
Profile picture, email, website and description can be edited at any time, badge or no badge.

What the badge changes, and what it does not

Beyond the mark itself, Meta names one practical difference: a number without the badge does not appear when a customer searches for it inside WhatsApp, unless that customer has already saved the number as a contact. With the badge, the number can be found by search.

What it does not change: the messaging rules, the 24-hour window, the templates, the limits. A verified number plays by the same rules as any other.

The badge on the WhatsApp Business app

Numbers on the app get their badge a different way: Meta Verified, a paid subscription opened from Tools, then Meta Verified, in the app. Paying does not guarantee it: WhatsApp's Help Center says some subscribers are verified automatically, some are asked for documents, and some subscribe without a verification option. Meta's page says the badge can then show in the Calls tab, on the business profile, in chats, on context cards and on incoming calls, and that the subscription also brings a web page with its own link, priority support inside the app, several devices on one account with chats assigned to staff, and the badge on up to 10 WhatsApp Channels. Meta says its own survey found almost twice as many people confident a business is who it says it is when the badge is there. Meta One includes everything in Meta Verified.

Questions

Can we pay to get the badge faster?

Meta's process is a request and a review against the five conditions. Its page names no fee and no faster lane. Work on the conditions instead: business verification and the 30 days are the two that take time. The paid badge people mention is Meta Verified on the WhatsApp Business app, which Meta is folding into its Meta One subscription: a different product for app numbers, not this review.

We use the WhatsApp Business app on a phone. Can we apply?

Not for that number. Meta grants the badge to numbers on the WhatsApp Business Platform, which is what a connected system uses, and says it does not grant it to WhatsApp Business app numbers. An app number can carry a verified badge through Meta's paid Meta Verified, which is moving into the Meta One subscription, though WhatsApp's Help Center says subscribing does not guarantee the badge.

How does a number on the app get Meta Verified?

In the WhatsApp Business app, tap Tools, then Meta Verified, choose a package, choose the accounts to verify and make the first payment. Meta checks the business against its activity across Meta's apps and lets you add information or documents. Meta advises bringing the business and account details up to date first.

Does the badge help customers find us?

Yes, in one specific way: a number with the badge shows up when customers search for it inside WhatsApp. Without it, only customers who have saved the number see it in search.

Can we get the blue tick without business verification?

Meta's Business Help Center says the alternative is a record of high-quality messages across at least 1,000 conversations over 30 days in a row. The other conditions still apply: an approved display name, two-step verification and 30 days on the WhatsApp Business Platform.

We were declined. What now?

Wait 30 days, then apply again. In the meantime check each of the five conditions, especially the display name and business verification, since those are the ones a review can find wanting.

Sources

More plain-language notes like this one are on the guides page.

Want the number ready to apply?

We set up a business's WhatsApp number on a proper system with business verification started, two-step verification on and the display name submitted, so the five conditions are met as soon as the 30 days pass. A short call is the easiest way to see whether it fits your business.

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