Account Disabling and Handling

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Preventing Account Restricted

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1. Determine if your business complies with WhatsApp’s policies

If your business falls outside the industries supported by WhatsApp, then conducting business on WhatsApp is not feasible. These include businesses related to drugs, weapons, ammunition, prescription drugs, tobacco, alcohol, etc. For more details, see: https://www.whatsapp.com/legal/commerce-policy/

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2. Apply for the Blue Tick

The Blue Tick, formally known as an Official Business Account (OBA), indicates that WhatsApp has verified the account as representing an authentic and notable brand. Most businesses can create WhatsApp business accounts and send messages, but not every business is eligible for the blue checkmark. If you represent a well-known business and pass the review, the risk of account restrictions is generally lower. Eligibility for the WhatsApp Blue Tick depends on several factors, with notability being especially important: the company should represent a frequently searched and well-known brand or entity.

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3. Monitor templates and number quality, and make timely adjustments

WhatsApp’s risk control strategies are very complex, but generally, WhatsApp will balance the interests of both consumers and businesses. Typically, message quality is assessed based on user feedback (such as message complaints and blocks). If no improvement in business message quality is detected, the penalties will gradually increase:

• First stage: Suspend or ban message templates
• Second stage: Lower number quality, thereby limiting the number’s sending quota
• Third stage: Ban the WABA, rendering all numbers and templates unusable, and in severe cases, disable all WABAs under a BM

When you notice a continuous decline in template or number quality, you need to make some adjustments. Strategies include:

• Editing template content: If you believe the template content might be seen as spam or phishing by end-users, try revising the template to optimize the content.
• Reshaping the target audience: If you think the information is not relevant to the current audience, change the audience. For example, if the template content is only relevant to users with a specific level of loyalty, send the template message only to that type of user instead of all users.

Check Status and Quality Rating on the WhatsApp accounts page.

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4. Backup your account

We cannot predict the future, and even if your current sending quality is high, you might still get banned due to unforeseen factors. For business stability, we recommend backing up your account (you can ignore this if you have a blue badge):

• If you have the capability and resources, consider creating an additional BM account and corresponding WABA account.

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5. Engage in conversations that consumers interested

Consumers have preferences for the messages they receive. Put yourself in their shoes; everyone wants to receive messages that are useful to them. For businesses, messages that lead to business conversions are more valuable. A balance needs to be struck. During the initial phase, focus on messages that consumers prefer (messages with low complaint rates) to make them clearly feel the value of the WhatsApp brand window, gradually cultivating their message habits and brand trust, and then supplementing with messages that yield greater returns for the business. We attempt to categorize complaint rates by message type, from low to high:

• Low complaint rate: OTP, order/logistics notifications, membership/points notifications, service conversations
• Medium complaint rate: promotions for loyal customers, shopping cart reminders, seasonal sales
• High complaint rate: re-engagement for lost customers, marketing outreach to new customers

WhatsApp does not disclose the actual complaint ratios to anyone; this is just an observational experience. The actual complaint rate is related to the target audience, the quality of the message content, and other factors.

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Account Unlock

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Investigate the reasons for the restriction

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Mass marketing messages

Sending a large number of marketing messages to users affects their experience and satisfaction with the business, leading to dissatisfaction, complaints, or blocking of the marketing messages. An increase in complaint rates can result in a WhatsApp ban.

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Violation of WhatsApp’s business policies

WhatsApp does not allow the following goods or services to be sold, exchanged, or promoted using the WhatsApp API:

• Firearms
• Alcohol and tobacco
• Drugs (prescription, recreational, or otherwise)
• Healthcare products
• Endangered species (wildlife and plants)
• Live non-endangered animals (excluding livestock)
• Hazardous materials
• Real, virtual, or fake currency, including ICOs and binary options
• Human body parts and fluids
• Business models, goods, items, or services that WhatsApp determines to be fraudulent, misleading, offensive, or deceptive, or that may be exploitative, inappropriate, or put undue pressure on the target group
• Real money gambling
• Adult products or services
• Dating services
• Multi-level marketing
• Payday loans, advance salary, P2P lending, debt collection, and bail bonds

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Facebook admin account flagged

The Facebook account required to create a WhatsApp Business account is crucial. It’s important to emphasize that purchased Facebook accounts are extremely likely to be banned, and once banned, the chances of recovering the account are almost zero. It is recommended to use your own “old account” or another colleague’s “old account.” If that’s not possible, you can create a new account and actively use it for several days to build trust with Facebook.

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Account Appeal

First, lower your expectations. WhatsApp does not ban accounts without reason, especially for WhatsApp API business accounts. Once permanently banned, the chances of getting it back are not high. Then, you can visit the BM’s Account Quality page, where you can see the disabled WABA accounts. Click on the banned WABA to enter the details page to view the reasons for the ban and the appeal process. The image above shows that the account was disabled due to unclear company information. In the “What can you do” on the right, you will see the next steps you should take. After updating the required information, you have one chance to initiate an appeal. It is recommended to passionately explain the situation to the support team in the appeal content:

1. Description of the company/brand, including the website address, main business.
2. A true description of why you registered for WhatsApp API to address certain business scenarios, such as customer support or sales activities, and specifically how you will use it, such as placing it on the official website for customer inquiries or sending notification messages to subscribed customers.
3. The impact of the account suspension on the company’s business. If the suspension greatly affects your existing business, it is recommended to state this in the appeal, such as affecting the sending of a large number of OTPs, preventing customers from logging in.
4. Assure that you have understood WhatsApp’s Policy and will be more cautious in using this account in the future. Please review the account and lift the restrictions.

After submission, you can wait for WhatsApp’s reply, usually within 1 working day.