How to add New Users to Your WhatsApp Account?

Objective

In order for the employees or team members to access the end clients' WhatsApp Business Account (WABA), they will need to be added as a user to the Business account in question.

Applies To

• Messages API
• WhatsApp

Shared WABA:

When you (as an end-business client) create a WABA using the Vonage Embedded sign-up flow, it is considered a "Shared" WABA. This means that it is owned by you (the end-business client) and you retain full control over it.

Note: Since the new onboarding flow roll-out by Meta in Q2 2025, WABAs created via WhatsApp Manager UI also end up being Shared WABAs (i.e., owned by end-business and "Shared" with Vonage)

Since you (the end-business client) own the WABA, you can manage user access permissions, including adding or removing your employees or team members.

Prerequisites for adding users to the End-Business's WABA Account:

Full-Control Access to Meta Business Account: You (i.e. your FB user email ID) must have full control (admin role) over the end business's Meta Business Portfolio (Meta Business Manager (BM)). You can get that checked from the 'People' section of their Meta BM.

Facebook Login Required: You must be logged into Facebook with the account that has admin access to the end business in question.

How to add users to a Shared WABA:

To add users (for example, your employees or team members) to the end-business WABA or the entire Business portfolio (Meta BM), you will need to use Meta Business settings 

Please note the following key points to add the users:

• The user you are adding must have a Facebook Account; they must use this account to accept the invitation and access Meta Business Manager.
• The email you add to send the invite does not have to match their Facebook login email; you can enter any email address (usually the users would use their work email ID) to send the invitation
• However, when the user clicks the invite link, they must log in using that Facebook account they want to use to access their or their end-business's Meta BM regularly.

Step-by-Step Instructions below on adding the users to the WABA:

1. Log in to your Meta Business Manager with the FB account that has admin access to the business.

2. Invite Users:

     2.1. In the side bar of Business Settings, click "Users"-> "People" tab and then click "+Invite people" button as shown in the screenshot below.

  2.2. Enter the user's email address of the person you want to add.

2.3. Assign Access: As shown below, select either Partial or Full control Access that best fits the user's role in the Business and click Next.

2.4. Assign business assets: Under the "Select business assets(s)" drop-down menu, choose the WhatsApp Account you want them to have access to, as shown below, and click the "confirm selection" button.

2.5. Choose the level of access, either Partial or Full control (please refer to the actions highlighted below that the user can perform with each level of access). Then click Next.

2.6. Review Invitation: Last step is to review the invitation and click "Send invitation" 

After clicking 'Send Invitation', Meta may verify your account by sending a text to your mobile number.

Once verified, the invitation will be sent to the user, and the same is valid for 30 days, as mentioned below.

3. User Accepts the Invitation: The user will receive an email invitation to join your Meta Business Manager. Once accepted, they will have access to manage the Business portfolio and WABA account(s) via their Meta Business Manager Account and WhatsApp Manager - as per the level of access given to the user.

Non-Shared WABA:

If you have not created the WABA via the Embedded sign-up flow,  or the WABA was created a while ago, you are likely in the following situation:

Usually, when Vonage is working with a Partner or tech Provider, which in turn is working with the end business, for all legacy WhatsApp number onboardings, Vonage used to create WhatsApp Business Accounts (WABAs) via the Business Manager (BM) UI.

These WABAs were owned by Vonage, but marked for use by a particular end-business. These are called On-Behalf-Of (OBO) WABAs. Partners access these WABAs via Vonage’s BM. (More details about OBO and Shared WABAs can be seen in Metas documentation here)

Note: OBO WABAs have been deprecated by Meta, and Vonage will also be migrating towards Shared WABAs going forward. Meta Ref: https://developers.facebook.com/docs/whatsapp/solution-providers/on-behalf-of/legacy-model-deprecation/

If you are a partner trying to gain access to an OBO WABA or add a new user to an OBO WABA, please contact the Vonage Support team by submitting a request to add users manually to the specific requested WABAs.

Related Pages:

- Difference between Shared and Non-Shared WABAs