Connect your WhatsApp Business account to Retainful
Connecting WhatsApp takes a few minutes. You start the setup in Retainful, complete it in Meta’s signup window, and land back in Retainful with your account and phone number connected.
Have these ready before you click the setup button:
A Meta Business portfolio. Retainful connects to a WhatsApp Business account that lives inside a Meta Business portfolio. You need to be an admin of that portfolio. If you don’t have one yet, create a business portfolio in Meta first.
A Facebook or Meta Business login for that portfolio.
Your company details. If you create a business portfolio or WhatsApp Business account during setup, Meta asks for your legal business name, address, website URL, and the display name you want customers to see.
A phone number to send from. One of:
A number you own. It must be able to receive an SMS or a voice call, must have a country and area code (short codes aren’t supported), and must not be active on the personal WhatsApp app. If it is, delete that WhatsApp account first.
A number already on the WhatsApp Business app. You can keep using the app after connecting. The number must be on the WhatsApp Business app (not the regular WhatsApp app), running version 2.24.17 or later.
A payment method in Meta. Meta bills WhatsApp conversations to your WhatsApp Business account. Add it to an existing account before you start, or right after setup if you create the account during it. Follow Meta’s guide: Add a credit card to your WhatsApp Business Platform account.
Plan for Meta’s waiting times. If you create a new Facebook account, wait about an hour before starting the setup. If you create a new Meta Business portfolio, Meta may take a few hours to verify it before you can use it for WhatsApp.
Go to Settings → WhatsApp and click Begin WhatsApp setup.
Settings → WhatsApp before connecting
Meta’s signup window opens in a popup. Everything from here until the last step happens inside that window.
2
Choose your business portfolio and WhatsApp Business account
Select the business portfolio Retainful should connect to, then either pick an existing WhatsApp Business account in that portfolio or create a new one.If you create a new WhatsApp Business account, Meta asks for:
Business account name — the name of the account inside Meta.
Display name — what customers see in WhatsApp in place of your number. Keep it close to your real business name; Meta’s display name guidelines apply.
Category — your industry.
Optional: time zone, business description, and website.
Meta also asks you to allow Retainful to access this account — this is what lets Retainful send messages on your behalf.
Business portfolio and WhatsApp Business account
3
Add your phone number
Meta shows the options available to your business. Pick the one that matches the number you prepared:
Number you own
Number on the WhatsApp Business app
Number from Meta
Enter the number and choose whether to receive the verification code by SMS or voice call. Enter the 6-digit code when it arrives.
Adding a number you own
Choose the option to connect your existing WhatsApp Business app account, then enter the number that’s on the app.
Connecting an existing WhatsApp Business app number
Meta sends a message to that number inside the WhatsApp Business app. Open it, tap Connect to the Business Platform, and follow the prompts. You can choose whether to share your recent chat history with Retainful (up to the last 6 months).
After connecting, the WhatsApp Business app keeps working for one-to-one chats and stays in sync with messages sent through Retainful. A few app features are switched off on a connected number: broadcast lists, disappearing messages, view-once messages, and live location. Groups, calls, catalog, and status can’t be used through Retainful. See Meta’s details.
If Meta offers you a number, select it. No verification code is needed.
A Meta-provided number can’t be moved to another WhatsApp Business account or used outside the WhatsApp Business Platform, and Meta must approve its display name before it can send messages.
4
Finish the flow
Review the summary Meta shows and complete the flow. The popup closes on its own. There’s nothing else to enter in Retainful — the number is registered for you.
5
Confirm in Retainful
Settings → WhatsApp now shows General, Templates, and Unsubscribe sections. Under General you’ll see two cards:
WhatsApp Account — the account name, its current message limit, and its status.
WhatsApp Phone Number — the connected number, its quality rating, and its status.
The message limit, quality rating, and status come from Meta and reflect your WhatsApp Business account, not Retainful.
Message limit is how many business-initiated conversations you can start in a rolling 24 hours. New business portfolios start at 250. Completing Meta business verification raises it to 2,000, and Meta raises it further automatically as you send high-quality messages. See Meta’s messaging limits.
Quality is Meta’s rating of how customers react to your messages (blocks, reports, and similar signals) over the last 7 days. A new number starts at GREEN.
Business verification proves to Meta that your business is real. It raises your message limit from 250 to 2,000 conversations a day and unlocks display name review.
Newly created WhatsApp Business accounts must be verified within 30 days.
