WhatsApp usernames (BSUID) for businesses
A WhatsApp Business username is an optional @ handle (for example @YourBusinessName) that your business can reserve so customers can find you without having your number, which stays visible on your profile. It works the other way too: a customer who adopts a username can message you without their phone number showing, and Meta then sends your software an identifier instead, the BSUID. This guide covers both for a shop, a tradesperson or a small company.
What you will see in your conversations
When a customer adopts a username, their number is no longer visible when they message or call someone who does not have it in their contacts (WhatsApp Help). For you, that means a customer messaging from an @name instead of a number. Everything else is normal: the message arrives, you reply, the conversation opens.
You do not choose who will adopt a username: the customer decides, and Meta points out that you must therefore be able to process their messages. This page covers businesses; for a personal account, WhatsApp Help is the right source.
What you receive, by customer
| Customer’s situation | What your software receives |
|---|---|
| No username | Their number and their BSUID |
| Has a username, and you exchanged messages or calls with their number in the last 30 days, or they are in your contact book | Their number and their BSUID |
| Has a username, with no recent exchange and not in your contact book | Their BSUID and @name, with no number |
The BSUID in one sentence
A BSUID is an identifier Meta creates automatically for a customer and your business, which lets you message them when you do not know their number. Meta puts it in every incoming message, whether or not the customer has adopted a username.
- It looks like this: the customer’s two-letter country code, a full stop, then up to 128 characters (for example “GB.” followed by digits). Copy it in full.
- It is specific to your business portfolio at Meta (formerly called Business Manager). Every WhatsApp number in that portfolio can use it; a number from another portfolio fails.
- It is regenerated if the customer changes phone number. The same customer can therefore have several BSUIDs over time.
- It can be used to send every type of message except the One-tap, zero-tap and copy-code templates in the Authentication category, which need the number.
The dates, according to Meta
- Early April 2026
- BSUIDs start appearing in the messages received by tools connected to WhatsApp Business.
- 29 June 2026
- Businesses can reserve and choose their username. Meta previously wrote “later in 2026”.
- From July 2026
- Software can send messages to a BSUID. Meta had first announced May 2026.
- Early July 2026
- Request-phone-number button, which the customer taps to share it in the conversation. First announced for early May.
- Through 2026, gradually
- Usernames roll out to customers and businesses. Meta writes “gradually in 2026” and gives no end date; adoption is optional.
- 15 September 2026
- Latest update of Meta’s page: Meta can revoke a business username and replace it with a generated one.
These dates come from the change log at the bottom of Meta’s page. We cannot tell which stage your account is at: check in your WhatsApp Manager.
When the customer’s number is still sent
So that you do not lose the thread with existing customers, Meta keeps sending the number of a customer who has adopted a username in three cases.
- You messaged or called them
- At their number, in the 30 days before the event.
- They messaged or called you
- From their number, in the 30 days before the event.
- They are in your contact book
- Your business’s contact book, kept by Meta, not the one on your phone.
These rules are judged one business number at a time. If you have two WhatsApp numbers, a past exchange on one does not count for the other. And after 30 days without contact, an old customer who writes can look like a new one.
The contact book Meta keeps
There is nothing to connect on your side. When you message a number, or receive a message or call from it, the customer’s number and BSUID are saved there for your whole portfolio. It only keeps exchanges that happen after it launched; earlier ones are not picked up. You can switch it off in Meta Business Suite, Business settings, Business info: it then deletes everything it held, and that cannot be restored. Think before turning it off.
What this changes for your follow-ups, campaigns and customer records
- Customer records: if your records rely only on the phone number (a spreadsheet, a software address book), a customer messaging from an @name no longer always matches. Meta asks tools to handle several identifiers per customer and link them to earlier ones.
- Follow-ups: Meta allows messages to a BSUID from July 2026, but only if your software can do it. You need a tool that can reply to a customer whose number it does not have.
- Campaigns: for its marketing messages API, Meta recommends sending to phone numbers when you have them, so you keep receiving them afterwards. According to Meta, a customer known only by BSUID can still be reached, but your software decides whether to include them in a campaign.
- Authentication codes: One-tap, zero-tap and copy-code templates in the Authentication category are not sent to a BSUID. If you send login or confirmation codes, you still need the number.
- Several numbers or portfolios: a BSUID only works within its portfolio. If you have several, Meta offers eligible businesses parent BSUIDs; ask your Meta contact.
- If your software cannot process these messages, Meta says there will be no recourse. The question for your supplier is simple: do you support the BSUID?
Your business username
Your business can have a unique @name, for example @LewisPlumbing, so customers can find and recognise you easily without having your number. It is optional, and different from the business name shown on your profile.
Reserving it
- Since 29 June 2026, according to Meta, you can reserve a name in WhatsApp Manager, Meta Business Suite, the WhatsApp Business app or through the API. WhatsApp may offer you a name it has reserved for you; you can also pick another that fits your brand.
- An approved name becomes active once the feature opens. Meta says the status changes to “active” once your request is approved and usernames are available in your country.
- A number has only one username, and no two WhatsApp numbers, personal or business, can share one.
- If the name you want is already used by your Facebook Page or Instagram account, first link your number to that Page or account.
- The request can be refused: the API documentation mentions, among other reasons, a name already taken or a portfolio whose messaging limit is not high enough.
- You can change or delete it at any time. The old name may then be claimed by someone else.
- Meta can also revoke a name and replace it with a generated one (update of 15 September 2026).
The format rules
- 3 to 35 characters.
- English letters a to z only, digits, full stops and underscores. Characters such as ñ, é or ü make the request fail.
- At least one letter.
- No full stop at the start or end, and no two full stops in a row.
- Must not start with “www” or end with a domain (for example .com, .org, .net).
- Case is ignored (MyShop and myshop are the same name), but full stops and underscores count: my.shop and my_shop are two different names.
It does not hide your number
Meta is blunt about it: business usernames are not intended for privacy. Your number stays visible on your business profile, and a customer who already has it can still contact you on it. Customers who have not saved your number see your @name in the chat.
Display order in the chat
- The name saved in the customer’s contacts.
- The verified business name, or an official business account name.
- Your username.
- Your phone number.
How a customer finds you
They type your exact name into WhatsApp. There is no searchable directory: they need to know the precise name. Put it on your shop window, cards and social media, or share it by QR code or direct link. WhatsApp also offers an optional key: if you turn it on, a new customer needs your name and your key to message you for the first time, which cuts down unwanted messages.
What WYP.chat does
WYP.chat is a shared inbox that connects to your WhatsApp Business number. Here is what exists today for customers without a number.
- A customer without a number is accepted: their message arrives in the inbox like any other.
- They are recognised by their BSUID from one message to the next, so their conversation and record stay the same.
- You reply in the conversation: WYP.chat sends to the BSUID when there is no number.
- Their @name is shown instead of a name when they have none, and appears on their contact record.
- If their number appears later (a message that carries it, or the customer shares it with WhatsApp’s request-phone-number button), their “username” record becomes a “number” record, with no duplicate. If that number already has its own record, WYP.chat does not merge them by itself: your team has to combine the two.
- A customer known only by BSUID has their own record, where consent for offers is noted as for everyone else.
WhatsApp What WYP.chat does not do today
- Campaigns and automatic messages only go to records with a phone number. A “username” record is left out and counted as “without a phone number” in the audience.
- WYP.chat does not send Meta’s request-phone-number button. It records the number if the customer shares it; meanwhile, ask for it in a plain message, as in the example above.
- Reserving your business username is done at Meta, not in WYP.chat.
- No automatic merge of two records: if a customer switches to a number that already has its own record, the conversation alerts the team, and the owner or an administrator combines the two records. Otherwise their record takes the new number and the new BSUID.
What you can do now
- Reserve your username, close to your shop name (for example @lewisplumbing). It will be active once the feature opens at Meta, and you will have kept anyone else from taking it.
- Ask your software supplier whether it supports the BSUID: customer without a number, record linked to the right customer, sending to a BSUID, and a new BSUID after a change of number.
- Keep your customers in the contact book: leave Meta’s switched on and keep one record per customer in your software, with their number as soon as you have it.
- Ask for the number when you need it (delivery, quote, appointment reminder): a plain message in the conversation is enough. Meta’s request-phone-number button, announced for early July 2026, goes in a Utility or Marketing template or an interactive message.
- Show your @name and your WhatsApp link where customers see you: shop window, quotes, business card, website.
How to do it in WYP.chat
Help centre articles that walk through each setting, screen by screen.
Sources
- Meta, Business-scoped user IDs: developers.facebook.com/documentation/business-messaging/whatsapp/business-scoped-user-ids
- WhatsApp Help Center, About usernames on WhatsApp Business: faq.whatsapp.com/1131753190029163
Pages checked on 16 October 2026.