Why WhatsApp asks for a card
Meta bills every business directly for the WhatsApp messages it sends. The card is on your own WhatsApp Business Account, at Meta. xconversions never sees it, and is never charged for what you send.
So a number can be connected and still unable to send: WhatsApp delivers nothing from it until the account behind it has a payment method it can charge. Only you can add one. What the messages cost is in What WhatsApp charges.
The panel on the number
On Channels, a number that waits for a payment method shows an amber panel inside its card, under the lines Receiving, Sending and Answered by. Its heading says which of two situations this is.
| The panel is headed | Status | What happened | What happens to messages |
|---|---|---|---|
| one step left: a payment method | Needs a card | The number is connected and nothing else is missing. The WhatsApp Business Account behind it has never had a payment method. | Nothing can be sent yet. |
| WhatsApp could not charge this account | Payment problem | The number was working and has stopped. WhatsApp tried to charge the account and could not: usually a card that has expired or reached its limit. | Messages already queued wait instead of failing, and go out the moment this is fixed. |
Both versions then give the same three steps, say who charges what, and end with two buttons: Open WhatsApp Manager and Help me do it. The line Sending reads waiting for a payment method.
A banner at the top of every screen says it too: +0005550300 cannot send yet — its WhatsApp account needs a payment method. People who can open Channels get the button Sort it out. Everybody else reads Ask a workspace admin to add the payment method.
Add the card in WhatsApp Manager
WhatsApp Manager is Meta’s own site. Press Open WhatsApp Manager on the panel: Meta’s payment settings open in a new tab, on your business when xconversions knows which one it is. Sign in to Facebook if Meta asks. Then do the three steps the panel lists.
Open WhatsApp Manager and pick the business this number belongs to.
If you manage several businesses at Meta, check the name at the top before going on.
Go to Billing, then Payment settings.
Add a card to the WhatsApp Business Account itself, and make it the primary method.
This is the step people miss. A card on the business alone is not enough: it has to be on the WhatsApp Business Account.
Then come back to Channels. Meta tells xconversions within seconds, and xconversions also asks Meta every hour, in case that message is lost. The status becomes Registering for a few minutes and then Connected, or Connected at once, and the panel goes. Messages that were waiting are sent.
Ask us to do it with you
Adding a card is several screens deep on somebody else’s site. If you cannot find it, press Help me do it on the panel.
- Channels says Got it. Somebody will be in touch to walk you through it, usually within a working day.
- Our team is told which workspace and which number it is, and who asked.
- In place of the button, the panel now reads We have your request — somebody will be in touch. Asking once is enough.
- The reminder emails stop, because a person is now going to contact you.
Nothing about the number changes when you ask. It still starts working by itself the moment a card is on the account.
Reminders
While a number waits, the workspace’s first admin is reminded by email: once after a day, and once more after three days. There is no third reminder, and none at all once somebody has pressed Help me do it. The panel and the banner stay until the card is added.
Who charges what
| Who | Charges you for | How |
|---|---|---|
| Meta | The WhatsApp messages you send. | Directly, on the card of your WhatsApp Business Account. |
| xconversions | Your plan, and your agent’s AI usage. Never the WhatsApp messages: we add nothing to Meta’s rates and charge nothing per number. | Plan & billing in Settings shows your plan, and AI usage shows what the agent used. |
If the number does not start working
- Give it an hour. If Meta’s message was lost, the hourly check catches it.
- Look again at the third step: the card must be on the WhatsApp Business Account, and be its primary method.
- If the status turns to Needs attention, the card arrived and WhatsApp refused to register the number. That needs a person: write to us with the round help button, Get help.
- A campaign message that waited more than six hours is marked
not sent: sending was paused. Send those again from the campaign once messages go out: see Campaign results. - A reply that waited so long that the customer’s 24 hours ran out is marked
not sent: payment issue, the 24-hour window has closed. See The 24-hour window.
Good to know
- Who sees the panel: people who can open Channels, which takes the Numbers and integrations access. Adding the card needs somebody who can manage the business at Meta.
- Only the numbers of the account Meta cannot charge stop sending. The rest of your workspace is untouched: the inbox, your contacts and your templates stay as they are.
- Messages customers send you are free, and still arrive while the number has a payment problem.