WhatsApp Usernames Are Coming: What Your Business Needs to Do Now

Written by Ifigenia Arampelou | Mar 25, 2026 11:37:25 AM

If your business relies on WhatsApp to talk to customers, there is something you need to know: from this summer, your customers will be able to hide their phone number from you. Instead, WhatsApp will identify them using a new code called a Business-Scoped User ID (BSUID). If your CRM, marketing tools, or support workflows depend on phone numbers to recognise customers, this change could break them.

The good news? You have time to prepare. The transition is already underway, and businesses that act now will avoid disruption when WhatsApp usernames go live. This guide explains what is changing, why Meta is doing it, and exactly what your team needs to do.

Why Meta Is Making This Change

Phone numbers have always been the backbone of WhatsApp. Every conversation, every contact record, every CRM sync has relied on them. But phone numbers come with a privacy problem: they are permanent, personally identifiable, and easy to misuse.

Meta's goal with WhatsApp usernames is simple: give users control over who sees their phone number. Once usernames launch, WhatsApp users will be able to start conversations with businesses without ever sharing their personal number. For consumers, this is a significant trust and safety improvement.

WhatsApp is launching usernames later in 2026. Usernames are an optional feature for users and businesses. If a username is adopted by a WhatsApp user, their username will be displayed instead of their phone number in the app.

Source: Meta: Business-Scoped User IDs Documentation

This matters because WhatsApp now has over 3 billion monthly active users^[5] worldwide. Privacy expectations are rising, and Meta is positioning WhatsApp as a platform where people feel safe engaging with brands. For businesses, that means more willing conversations and higher engagement, but with a new identifier to manage.

What Are Business-Scoped User IDs?

A BSUID is a unique code that WhatsApp generates for every customer who interacts with your business. Think of it as a customer reference number that is specific to your company. The same person will have a different BSUID for every business they message, which means no one can use it to track a customer across multiple brands.

Here is what you need to know about BSUIDs in practical terms:

Automatic and invisible - BSUIDs are generated behind the scenes. Your customers do not need to do anything, and neither do you to start receiving them.
Unique to your business - The BSUID a customer has with you is different from the one they have with another company. This protects customer privacy.
Includes a country code - Each BSUID starts with a two-letter country code (e.g. GB.849201837465), so you still know roughly where your customer is located.
Works across your phone numbers - If your business uses multiple WhatsApp numbers under the same account, the same BSUID applies to all of them.

The critical point for sales and marketing teams: BSUIDs will become the primary way to identify returning customers once users start hiding their phone numbers. Your CRM records need to be ready to store and match on this new identifier.

The Timeline: What Happens and When

Meta is rolling this out in stages, giving businesses time to adapt. Here are the key dates:

Date	What Happens	What You Should Do
31 March 2026	BSUIDs start appearing in your WhatsApp message notifications	Start capturing and storing BSUIDs alongside phone numbers in your CRM
Early April 2026	Contact book feature launches, automatically mapping BSUIDs to phone numbers	Ensure the contact book is enabled in your Meta Business Suite settings
May 2026	You can start sending messages to customers using their BSUID instead of phone number	Test sending to BSUIDs and confirm your messaging platform supports it
June 2026	Usernames begin rolling out in test countries	Monitor whether incoming messages stop including phone numbers
August 2026	Broader global rollout of usernames	All systems should be fully BSUID-ready

The WhatsApp BSUID rollout timeline: key dates and actions for businesses in 2026.

The most urgent date is 31 March 2026. From that point, BSUIDs will appear in every message your business receives on WhatsApp. If your systems are not capturing them, you will lose the ability to match those conversations to customer records once phone numbers start disappearing.

Why Customers Will Adopt WhatsApp Usernames

Understanding why your customers will want this feature helps you prepare your messaging accordingly. The benefits for WhatsApp users are compelling:

Privacy by default - Customers can message your business, ask questions, request quotes, and complete purchases without ever revealing their personal phone number.
Reduced spam risk - Phone numbers shared with businesses can end up on calling lists or get leaked in data breaches. Usernames eliminate that risk entirely.
Easy to change - Unlike phone numbers, usernames can be updated. A customer who changes their username keeps their full conversation history and BSUID intact.
Cross-business privacy - Because BSUIDs are unique per business, no company can use the identifier to look up a customer's activity with a competitor.

For businesses, the implication is clear: customers who feel safer are more likely to start conversations. Expect higher inbound engagement from privacy-conscious customers who previously avoided WhatsApp business messaging.

The Pros and Cons for Your Business

This is not a straightforward win or loss for businesses. There are genuine advantages alongside real challenges.

The Upsides

More conversations - Privacy-conscious customers who avoided sharing their phone number may now be willing to engage. This could open up new segments for your sales and marketing teams.
Better customer trust - Operating on a platform that prioritises user privacy strengthens your brand's credibility. Customers are more likely to share honest feedback and complete forms when they feel protected.
Business usernames for brand recognition - Your business can also adopt a username (e.g. @yourcompany), making it easier for customers to find and recognise you. This works like a social media handle across WhatsApp.
Cleaner data over time - BSUIDs are permanent per customer-business relationship (unless the customer changes their phone number). No more duplicate records from customers who switch SIM cards.

The Challenges

CRM and data migration - Your customer records may be built entirely around phone numbers. Adding BSUID as a primary identifier requires changes to your CRM fields, automations, and reporting. If your CRM is not already capturing WhatsApp numbers for every contact, now is the time to start.
Lost contact for inactive customers - If a customer enables a username and you have not interacted with them in the last 30 days, their phone number will no longer appear. You will need their BSUID to message them.
Authentication limitations - One-time passwords and verification codes still require phone numbers. If your WhatsApp messages include OTPs, those flows will need to keep using phone numbers, not BSUIDs.
Team training - Sales reps and support agents need to understand that a conversation may arrive without a phone number attached. Workflows that start with "look up the customer's phone number" will need updating.

What Your Team Should Do Now

The transition window is short. Here is a practical checklist for sales, marketing, and customer experience teams:

Audit your CRM - Check whether your CRM can store a second identifier alongside the phone number. If not, add a custom field for BSUID now.
Talk to your WhatsApp platform provider - Ask them when they will support BSUIDs in their platform. Confirm that incoming messages will surface the BSUID in your dashboard, inbox, or CRM sync.
Enable the contact book - In early April, Meta will launch a contact book feature that automatically maps BSUIDs to phone numbers. Make sure this is enabled in your Meta Business Suite settings.
Use the new "Request Contact Info" button - Meta is adding a new button type for message templates that politely asks customers to share their phone number. Add this to your key marketing and utility templates as a fallback^[1].
Claim your business username - Before usernames go live, you can reserve a username that matches your brand. If you have not set up WhatsApp for your business yet, start with our guide on how to get a WhatsApp Business number. Do this through WhatsApp Manager or Meta Business Suite to avoid someone else claiming it.
Update your team's workflows - Brief your sales and support teams on the change. Ensure that customer identification does not rely solely on phone numbers.

How Flowella Keeps Your WhatsApp Workflows Running

Flowella turns your existing forms into WhatsApp Flows, collecting structured data directly inside the WhatsApp conversation. Whether a customer identifies themselves by phone number or BSUID, the data they submit through a Flowella flow is captured, validated, and synced to your CRM as clean, structured records.

This is particularly important during the BSUID transition because:

Structured data collection does not depend on phone numbers - When a customer completes a Flowella flow, the data they provide (name, email, preferences, enquiry details) is captured regardless of how WhatsApp identifies them.
CRM sync adapts automatically - Flowella connects to your CRM (including HubSpot and other platforms) and will map records using whatever identifier is available.
No free-text friction - Unlike chatbots that rely on open-ended conversations, Flowella's guided forms with validation and branching logic capture exactly the data you need in a format your team can act on immediately.

If you are already using Flowella, check out the Getting Started guide to ensure your flows and CRM integrations are up to date. If you are new to Flowella, now is an ideal time to explore how structured WhatsApp data collection can future-proof your customer engagement.

References

View full post