Prerequisites

Before you begin the WhatsApp signup process in SMSPortal, make sure you have the following in place. Trying to start without these ready is the most common cause of delays and errors.

Meta Business Portfolio

This is the most important requirement. A Meta Business Portfolio (previously called Facebook Business Manager) is the Meta account that will own your WhatsApp Business Account (WABA). If you don't have one, you can create one at business.facebook.com — you'll need a Facebook account to do so.

A few important points about your Business Portfolio:

• It must represent your actual business, not an agency or third party acting on your behalf
• Make sure it has accurate business information filled in: legal business name, address, website, and email
• The person doing the signup must have Administrator access to this portfolio
• You can have a maximum of 2 Business Portfolios per business under Meta's rules

If you don't have a Business Portfolio yet, you can create one during the signup flow itself, but we recommend creating it beforehand so you have all your business details ready.

Facebook / Meta Account with Admin Access

The person completing the signup must log in with a personal Facebook account that has admin-level access to the Business Portfolio above. This should be an established, active account — Meta may flag newly created or inactive accounts. Two-factor authentication (2FA) should be enabled on this account.

Dedicated Phone Number

WhatsApp requires a dedicated phone number that will be used exclusively for your WhatsApp Business account. This number cannot be shared with any other WhatsApp account. Before starting, confirm the following:

• The number is not currently registered on the WhatsApp consumer app or the WhatsApp Business App. If it is, you must fully delete that WhatsApp account first — simply uninstalling the app is not sufficient
• You have physical access to the number during signup, as Meta will send a 6-digit OTP (one-time passcode) via SMS or voice call to verify it
• The number can receive SMS messages or voice calls (short codes and some toll-free numbers have restrictions)
• The number is in international format (e.g. +27 82 123 4567)

Important: If your number was previously registered on any WhatsApp account, deleting that account before proceeding is mandatory. There may be a short cooldown period before the number becomes fully eligible.

Your Business Details

Have the following information ready to enter during the signup flow:

• Your official business name (this becomes the WABA name — it's an internal/backend name, not customer-facing)
• Your WhatsApp Display Name — this is what customers will see when they receive a message from you. It must clearly relate to your business and comply with Meta's display name guidelines (see note below)
• Your business category / industry
• Your business website URL — strongly recommended, as accounts without a valid website face a higher risk of being flagged by Meta
• A brief business description (optional but recommended)

Display Name note: Your display name must be consistent with your business name as it appears on your website and marketing. It cannot contain generic terms, Meta trademarks (e.g. "WhatsApp"), or names that don't clearly relate to your business. Meta reviews all display names, and rejection is common if guidelines aren't followed carefully.

WhatsApp Business Account (WABA)

A WABA is created automatically during the signup process if you don't already have one. It sits inside your Business Portfolio and holds your phone numbers and message templates. You can also select an existing WABA if you've used WhatsApp Business API before through another provider. Either way, the signup flow will guide you through this step.