WhatsApp Business (custom number) — Certivus Help

Use the Settings → Integrations → WhatsApp card to route outbound WhatsApp messages through your firm's own WhatsApp Business Account instead of the Certivus default platform number.

This is part of the White-label add-on. If you see a paywall card instead of the setup form, contact us to enable the bundle.

Why bother

Brand consistency. Clients see your firm's name + number when they receive a verification reminder on WhatsApp, not "Certivus".
Templates. With your own WhatsApp Business Account, your firm's Meta-approved message templates are used directly. Without it, we use our canonical templates with your firm name interpolated.
Conversations. When a client replies to a WhatsApp from you, the reply lands in your WhatsApp Business app, not ours. You can have a real conversation; today, replies to the Certivus default number are routed to a shared inbox.
Compliance. If you're FCA-supervised and clients ever WhatsApp you about a regulated activity, the recordkeeping obligation falls on your firm. Easier to satisfy when the WhatsApp Business Account is yours.

Who can use this

Your firm needs the White-label add-on (a monthly retainer; one entitlement covers all four white-label cards).
Within your firm: firm-owners and managers can connect, test, sync templates, or disconnect.

Prerequisites

Before you start, you need three things from outside Certivus:

Meta Business Manager account (business.facebook.com). Free.
Approved WhatsApp Business Account — Meta verifies you're a real business. Allow 1-7 days for the first approval; subsequent template approvals are usually minutes.
Expediusly account — Expediusly handles the technical bridge between Meta's WhatsApp Cloud API and Certivus.

If you don't already have these set up, the Certivus team can introduce you to an Expediusly rep who will walk you through the Meta onboarding. Reach out via Settings → Support.

What you'll paste into the card

From your Expediusly dashboard, you'll need:

API token — Expediusly issues this when you connect your WhatsApp Business Account. Treat it like a password.
WhatsApp Business Account ID — Meta's identifier for your account.
Phone number ID — Meta's identifier for the specific number registered under your account.

Optionally, the phone number itself (E.164 format, e.g. +447700900000) for display in the card.

Setup walkthrough

Click "Connect your WhatsApp number" to open the connection dialog.
Paste the fields from your Expediusly dashboard: API token, WhatsApp Business Account ID, phone number ID, and optional phone number.
Click "Test connection." We make a live API call against Expediusly to confirm the credentials work and the WhatsApp Business Account is reachable. If it passes, the card flips to a green Connected state.
Click "Sync templates." We push the 18 canonical Certivus WhatsApp templates into your WhatsApp Business Account for Meta approval. These cover every WhatsApp message Certivus sends: KYC invites, verification reminders, MLRO alerts, internal notifications, etc.
Wait for Meta to approve the templates. Approval is usually instant for standard templates and up to 24 hours for the few that contain dynamic content. You can monitor approval status in your Expediusly dashboard.
Once approved, outbound WhatsApp routes through your number automatically. No further action required.

What happens if templates fail Meta approval

Some templates are stricter than others — Meta sometimes rejects ones with too much dynamic content or that resemble marketing rather than transactional. If a specific template fails approval:

The Certivus default fallback template (sent from our shared number) is used for that one event type.
All other events still route through your number with the approved templates.
You can re-submit a template via Expediusly with adjusted content if Meta requested changes.

This is rare — the 18 canonical templates are designed to pass Meta's review.

Daily-use flow

Once Connected + Synced:

Outbound: every KYC reminder, MLRO alert, internal SAR notification etc. that has a WhatsApp channel goes via your WhatsApp Business Account.
Inbound: clients who reply land in your WhatsApp Business app or wherever Expediusly routes inbound messages (usually a shared inbox you've configured).
Opt-outs: when a client texts "STOP" or "UNSUBSCRIBE", Certivus's WhatsApp adapter automatically adds them to the suppression list. They won't receive WhatsApp from you again until they re-opt-in. (Email + in-app still work.)
Cost: Meta charges per conversation (24-hour session). Expediusly bills you directly for the Meta fees. Certivus doesn't add a margin on top.

Periodic re-sync

If we add new event types that need new templates (or change the wording on existing ones), the Sync templates button on the card pushes the new versions to your WhatsApp Business Account for re-approval. You'll see a notification when this is needed.

Disconnecting

Click the trash icon, confirm. We immediately stop sending WhatsApp via your WhatsApp Business Account — new messages fall back to the Certivus default platform number until you re-connect.

Disconnecting does NOT:

Delete your WhatsApp Business Account at Meta
Delete your Expediusly account
Cancel any in-flight Meta template approvals
Affect any other firm using the bundle

It just unhooks us from your WhatsApp Business Account. You can re-connect any time.

Common questions

Can I use my existing personal WhatsApp number? No. WhatsApp Business API requires a dedicated number that's not actively in use on a personal WhatsApp app. If your business number is currently on a personal account, you'll need to deregister it from WhatsApp first, which deletes the chat history, then register it as a WhatsApp Business Account number.

Can I use a Twilio / Vonage / other BSP? Not currently. Certivus only integrates with Expediusly. If you have a strong existing relationship with a different BSP, contact us — we can scope a custom integration but it's not part of this bundle.

How much does this cost? Three line items:

The White-label add-on (covers all four cards including WhatsApp setup). Monthly retainer to Certivus.
Expediusly platform fee (their margin on top of Meta). Monthly to Expediusly.
Meta WhatsApp conversation fees (per 24-hour session, varies by recipient country). Pass-through via Expediusly.

In the UK, expect ~£0.04 per conversation for service messages, more for marketing-category messages. Most firms see total Meta fees in the £5-£50/month range.

Will old WhatsApp messages I've sent still work? The threads in your clients' WhatsApp inboxes stay there — WhatsApp doesn't retroactively change conversations. New messages route through your new number; clients see a new contact appear in their inbox when the first message arrives.

Troubleshooting

Test connection fails with "Invalid API token":

Token may have been rotated in Expediusly. Generate a fresh one and paste it into the card.
Check there are no leading/trailing whitespace characters.

Test connection fails with "WhatsApp Business Account not found":

Confirm the account ID matches what Meta Business Manager shows for your account.
Confirm the account is in "Live" status, not "Pending review."

Template sync fails:

Usually means Meta is rate-limiting template submissions. Wait an hour and click Sync again.
If a specific template is repeatedly rejected, contact us — we'll iterate on the wording.

Card shows "Test failed" but I haven't changed anything:

We re-test the connection nightly. If Meta or Expediusly had a transient outage during the test, you'll see this state next morning. Click Test connection to confirm everything is working again — it usually flips back to Connected within 30 seconds.