Meta Business Portfolio Setup
How to configure your Meta account for official WhatsApp API access.
To connect a phone number to the WhatsApp Business API, you must possess a Meta Business Portfolio (formerly Facebook Business Manager). This portfolio is the legal container where Meta stores your WhatsApp numbers, billing details, templates, and permissions.
What is a Meta Business Portfolio?
Think of it as your company's virtual headquarters inside Facebook/Meta. It acts separately from your personal Facebook profile. Your personal Facebook account is only used as a key to unlock access to the portfolio.
Through the Meta Business settings, you can:
- Add employee access with granular permissions.
- Manage Facebook Pages, Instagram Accounts, and WhatsApp Accounts.
- Add payment cards for Meta ads and API sending limits.
- Initiate Business Verification to unlock higher message volumes.
Setting Up Your Portfolio
If you do not have a portfolio yet, you can create one during the AutomateIt channel connection wizard, or manually by following these steps:
- Go to business.facebook.com and log in with your personal Facebook credentials.
- Click Create Account.
- Enter your legal Business Name, your name, and your work email address.
- Confirm the verification email sent to your address.
Business Verification
While Meta allows you to connect a number and start chatting immediately, your account will be in a "Sandbox" status with restricted limits until you verify your business (or if Meta flag-checks your account).
Sandbox (Unverified) Limits:
- Can only initiate conversations with up to 50 unique users per 24 hours.
- Cannot request official Green Check verification for your profile name.
Verified Account Limits:
- Starts at 1,000 business-initiated conversations per day.
- Can scale to 10,000, 100,000, or unlimited conversations per day depending on message quality ratings.
How to Verify:
- Go to Meta Business Settings → Security Center.
- Click Start Verification.
- Upload legal documents showing your business name and address (e.g., CAC incorporation certificate, utility bills, tax invoices).
- Meta reviews submissions within 2–5 business days.