You’ve probably seen some Twitter, Facebook or Instagram accounts with a blue check badge right after the account’s name. Usually, these badges confirm that the details of the account in question have been verified to be true and legit by the platform.
Apparently, WhatsApp is also getting a similar treat, but rather than get a blue badge, the Facebook-owned app will be getting a green check badge to go with its appearance.
In a move that will see WhatsApp users start enjoying more functionality than the typical messaging and calling among peers, the company seems ready to start making some real money out of the popular chat app. With the green check badges, WhatsApp is targeting business entities that want to reach their customers – or be accessible – via the app.
Once a business is verified on WhatsApp, it’ll get a green check badge next to the contact name associated with the account. What doesn’t change is the way you interact with these business accounts – you’ll still send messages in the same manner you send to regular contacts on the app.
Of course, the developers of the app have included a few tweaks here and there. For instance, you will now see yellow chat bubbles and unlike regular chats, deleting conversations from the chat window will not be possible.
The company also says that for those who have already saved a business’ phone number in their address books using a name of their choice, the name won’t change even if the business has a different name on the app. For those without the contact, the name will appear the way the business has listed it on WhatsApp. Also, in the event that you don’t want to receive any updates from a business account, you will be able to block them as you wish.
As for now, the verified business accounts’ feature is still in a “pilot program,” where only a small number of businesses are currently taking part. We expect to see a wider rollout very soon, although the exact date is still unknown. Nonetheless, it seems WhatsApp has finally found a way to monetize the more than 1 billion people that enjoy the app’s free services across the globe.
