The flow is built on Facebook Login for Business. In the window it opens, the business signs in with its Facebook or Meta Business credentials, accepts the terms of service, selects or creates a business portfolio and a WhatsApp Business account (WABA), enters and verifies its phone number, and chooses a display name.
When the flow completes, the partner receives the WABA ID, the phone number ID and a token it exchanges on its server to register the number on the Cloud API and subscribe to webhooks. The business owns all of its WhatsApp assets: the partner only has the access it was granted.
What happens next depends on the partner. With a Solution Partner, which shares its credit line, the business can start messaging right away. With a Tech Provider, the business first attaches its own payment method to the WABA. A variant of the flow, known as coexistence, lets a business keep using the WhatsApp Business app on the same number.
This is the flow behind the connect button of most WhatsApp marketing tools, including Kanal, a WhatsApp marketing and sales app for Shopify stores: see WhatsApp for Shopify.
