---
title: WhatsApp Business Account Ownership Transfer - Commonly asked questions
slug: messaging-apis/whatsapp-business-account-ownership-transfer-commonly-asked-questions
docTags: 
createdAt: 2025-10-06T15:16:45.983Z
---

### 1. Why are we being asked to take ownership of our WABA?

Meta is phasing out the “On-Behalf-Of” (OBO) model, where your BSP (like Exotel) owns and manages your WABA. Instead, Meta now mandates that brands directly own their WhatsApp Business Accounts through a model called **WABA Sharing**.

This change gives your business greater control, transparency, and access to WhatsApp’s evolving features.

### 2. What changes once we take direct ownership?

You gain:

- **Full control of your WABA:** Your team can manage account settings directly — including profile edits, payment configurations, and admin permissions — without routing through the BSP.


- **Direct access to WhatsApp Manager tools: **View and manage message quality ratings, analytics, and templates firsthand.


- **Better control over security and integrations:** Manage user roles, data sharing, and connected systems through your own Meta Business Manager — aligning WhatsApp with your organisation’s compliance policies.

### 3. Will messaging services be interrupted during this transition?

No — this is strictly an administrative change. Your messaging infrastructure and integrations will continue running as is.

### 4. What is the last date of migration? 

1st October, 2025

### 5. What steps does my team need to take?

Once your BSP(Exotel) initiates the transfer:

1. Log in to Meta Business Suite with admin credentials.
2. Go to **Settings → Requests → Received**
3. Look for a pending WhatsApp Business Account ownership request from your BSP.
4. Click **Review** and approve the request.

OR

1. Go to my.exotel.com **→ **WhatsApp **→ **Number Management **→ **Add new number
2. Follow the onboarding process, using any of your number
3. Accept the transfer request through Exotel’s embedded sign up flow

### 6. Who can approve this request?

Only users with **admin access** to the Meta Business Portfolio can approve the ownership transfer.

### 7. How long does the transition take after approval?

The transfer is typically completed **immediately** once the admin approves it within Meta Business Suite.

### 8. What if we don’t act within the deadline?

If no action is taken, Meta will **automatically approve the transfer** to your portfolio to comply with the deprecation policy.

Still, we recommend manually approving the request to ensure visibility and avoid confusion.

### 9. I can’t find the ownership transfer request. What now?

Let’s troubleshoot in two steps:

**Step 1: Check if the account is already transferred**

- Go to **Business Settings → WhatsApp Accounts**
- Check the “Owned by” field
- If it shows your business name, the transfer is complete. No further action needed.



**Step 2: Look for a pending request**

- Ensure you’re logged into the **correct Meta Business Portfolio**
- Go to **Settings → Requests → Received**
- Look for the pending request from your BSP

If you still don’t see the request, don’t worry — Meta will auto-transfer the account as part of the OBO deprecation plan




### 10. We don’t have admin access to the correct Meta Business Portfolio. What can we do?

While Meta will auto-transfer ownership as part of the OBO deprecation plan, we highly recommend securing admin access for full control.

You can request access recovery directly via [Meta Business Help Center](https://www.facebook.com/business/help).