What is WhatsApp Business API

The API is a programming interface that enables the transfer of data between WhatsApp and any
other platform or application of your choice.

For example, if you have an application or a website for booking appointments, and you want
users to be able to book appointments on your application through WhatsApp, the API might
come in handy. You can connect your booking system to WhatsApp and enable users to book
appointments through interactive messages.

The API can also be used to connect your chatbot or multiple agents to your WhatsApp inbox.
Any connection that requires importing and exporting data from WhatsApp is possible thanks to
the API.

WhatsApp Business API messaging limits

There are different messaging limits tiers that are enforced by WhatsApp to ensure that
businesses don’t send too many spam and promotional messages and make sure that WhatsApp
users always have a good user experience.

Therefore, the limits on messages are imposed based on your quality rating which is calculated
based on how users received your messages in the past seven days. If you make sure to comply
with WhatsApp commerce policy and maintain a high-quality rating you move up the messaging
tiers and send more messages per day. Here are the messaging tiers as specified by WhatsApp
and Meta:

 Level 1: 1,000 business-initiated conversations (with 1,000 unique customers) in a rolling

24-hour period.
 Level 2: 10,000 business-initiated conversations (with 10,000 unique customers) in a
rolling 24-hour period.
 Level 3: 100,000 business-initiated conversations (with 100,000 unique customers) in a
rolling 24-hour period.
 Level 4: unlimited business-initiated conversations in a rolling 24-hour period.
What are the USPs of the WhatsApp Business API?

Here are some of the WhatsApp Business API features:

– The WhatsApp API enables Branded Messaging / Verified Business

– You can bring your own number (mobile, landline, toll-free)

– The WhatsApp API makes rich messaging within the communication with your customers
available (images, pdfs, location, audios, videos, links, buttons)

– With branded stickers, interactive buttons, and quick reply buttons you can enhance and speed
up any dialog with your customers

Is the service data protection / GDPR compliant?

Using the WhatsApp Business API, Kit19 ensures legal and privacy-compliant use of WhatsApp
in customer communications. When starting communication with a business, the customer
submits consent before using the WhatsApp service. The customer also proactively contacts
customer service via WhatsApp and confirms the privacy policy. Also, the customer can
unsubscribe at any time with a simple word or command and request that their data be deleted.

WhatsApp messages between the Kit19 API and customers are end-to-end encrypted. WhatsApp
cannot read them. Therefore this solution is more secure than email or many other messengers,
that is not encrypted. Our hosting servers (where encryption and decryption happen) are located
in certified data centers where our customers need them to be hosted.

What is also to be mentioned for customers using our API: We do not store any message data
after messages are retrieved.
Can I create a WhatsApp chatbot with WhatsApp Business
API?

Of course, you can use the WhatsApp API to enable a bot for easy communication and chat. If
you have any questions about the possibilities and the setup, we are happy to help you.

What are the limitations of WhatsApp Business API?

WhatsApp and Meta have applied a strict business and commerce policy that businesses that
want to get access to the API should abide by. The WhatsApp API is not made to send thousands
of promotional and spammy messages to strangers. Therefore, it is not a suitable tool to contact
cold leads. In a matter of fact, Meta might penalize you by limiting the number of messages you
can send or completely blocking your number.

Moreover, the API is not a messaging interface like the WhatsApp Business App. This means
that any number that is used for the API cannot be used with another WhatsApp account and if
businesses want to send and receive messages through the API, they should develop their own
messaging solution or get it from an independent software vendor.
About WhatsApp Business display name

The WhatsApp Business display name is your business name that customers see on your
WhatsApp Business profile. When you add a new phone number to your WhatsApp Business
account in the Meta Business Manager, you assign a display name to it. The display name is used
to create a certificate that is required to register a WhatsApp Business Platform account.

Display names should be related to your business and must not violate WhatsApp Commerce and
Business policies. In addition, the display name must comply with our display name guidelines
to send messages using the WhatsApp Business Platform or to qualify for the WhatsApp official
Business Account.

If you work with a business service provider (BSP), your BSP will set up the display name for
your business.

WhatsApp Business display name review

WhatsApp Business display name review and account checks aren’t required to get started on the
platform. You can immediately start sending messages to customers. After signup:

 A compliance check with the WhatsApp Business Platform Policy is automatically conducted.
 When the display name is created, you’ll receive a notification to download the certificate
immediately.

You must initiate the business verification process when you’re ready to scale your business-
initiated conversations or request to become a WhatsApp official Business Account. After the
business verification is complete, the display name review for all phone numbers associated with
your account will be initiated. Once the display name review is initiated, any new display name
change will have to be reviewed and approved before it can be used.

Once the business verification is completed and the display names for all phone numbers are
approved, your business can have increased messaging and phone number limits.

WhatsApp official Business Account

If your business desires to have an WhatsApp official Business Account, it must be considered a
notable business. A notable business is a well-known business that has a substantial presence in
news articles from publications with sizable audiences. WhatsApp official Business Accounts are
issued for phone numbers. With the same phone number, you can use the current or a new
business name to apply for the WhatsApp official Business Account.
WhatsApp Business Platform Policy Enforcement
In order to maintain high quality conversations on the WhatsApp Business Platform as we scale,
we’ll begin enforcing on WhatsApp Business Accounts that repeatedly violate Business and
Commerce Policies. WhatsApp launched a warning-only grace period in November 2021.
Beginning March 14th 2022, we will start rolling out additional enforcement actions such as
temporary blocks on messaging.

The goal of this guide is to educate businesses on how this enforcement system works and the
product experience.

How It Works
WhatsApp Business Accounts will initially get a warning with information on the policy they
violated. If Business Accounts repeatedly violate high-risk policy categories, such as, adult
content, sale of alcohol and tobacco, drugs, gambling and Unsafe supplements sections of our
Commerce Policy, they may start seeing messaging restrictions that gradually increase in
duration, like:

 1 or 3 day block on sending business-initiated messages and adding additional phone numbers
to the account
 5 or 7 day block on sending business-initiated messages and responding to customer-initiated
messages and adding additional phone numbers to the account
 Eventually be permanently disabled from the WhatsApp Business Platform, if the business does
not make changes after multiple warnings and feature limits

In some cases, where there is evidence of a policy violation that causes severe harm to our users,
such as child exploitation, terrorism, or the sale of illegal drugs, WhatsApp will immediately
disable these Business accounts from the Business Platform.

All violations can be appealed within 90 days of being received.

Product Experience
We have a comprehensive product experience so that businesses and BSPs can access
transparent, granular and actionable information about violations via multiple channels.

Understanding Violations

When a business account violates a policy, additional detail can be found by reviewing the
violation in the Account Quality section of Business Manager. To see violations:
 1. Log in to Business Manager. (If you've transitioned to Meta Business Suite, follow the steps
listed here to switch to Business Manager.)
2. Click More > Account Quality > Facebook Business Accounts.
3. In the WhatsApp Accounts section, click the WhatsApp Business Account that shows “Account
Issues” in its Status column:

Violation updates include the following information:

 Summary of policy violated and link to the policy itself.

 Examples of which content is allowed or disallowed based on that policy.
 Whether there are any active restrictions on the account and what happens if the violation
happens again.
 How to avoid future policy violations and links to helpful resources.
 How to appeal.

Notifications about violations are also:

 Surfaced in the Business Manager Notifications Center and as a banner in WhatsApp Manager.
 Sent as an email to all admins set in Business Manager.
 Sent as a webhook notification to those subscribed.

Enforcement Actions

Accounts can become restricted or disabled depending on the number and severity of issues.
Specific restrictions can be viewed in Account Quality along with information on next steps and
requesting a review for a particular policy issue.

Restricted or disabled accounts can still appeal issues. If issues are reversed following the appeal,
the account returns to its previous status.

Webhooks
Integrate with webhooks in order to receive real-time notifications about changes to a WhatsApp
Business Account (WABA). Subscribe to the account_update webhook to receive real-time
notifications whenever a Business Account has violated a policy, and when applicable,
messaging restriction type and duration. This ensures businesses can quickly adjust behavior to
avoid additional warnings and/or enforcement actions.

Appeals
If a business believes it is actually compliant with WhatsApp policies, it can appeal the violation
by requesting a review. When a business appeals a violation, the WhatsApp team reviews the
case against the violation appealed to come up with a decision if the violation needs to be
reconsidered. This review may result in WhatsApp reversing the violation.

This is how you request a decision review:

 1. From the Account Quality page, click on the relevant WhatsApp Business Account.
2. Choose from the list of violations and click Request Review.
3. A new dialog opens in Business Manager. Enter supporting details and click Submit.
4. After submission, the request and the issue are moved to the In Review tab.
5. The appeal review decision will be sent via Business Manager and typically takes 24 to
48 hours. The appealed violation will either remain Unchanged, or be set as Reversed.

Preventing Future Violations

 Read the Commerce and Business Policies and review this article that answers frequently
asked questions about these policies.
 Subscribe to the account_update webhooks to receive real-time notifications whenever
a Business Account has violated a policy, and when applicable, messaging restriction
type and duration.
 Adjust behavior on the platform quickly to avoid additional warnings and/or enforcement
actions.