orca.floWhatsApp usernames and hidden phone numbers: what businesses need to know
Short answer
In 2026 WhatsApp is rolling out optional usernames. A customer who turns one on can message a business without showing their phone number. On the WhatsApp Business API, Meta then sends a business-scoped user ID (BSUID) instead, and you reply to that ID. Templates and normal replies still work; only some authentication templates need a phone number.
Updated
For as long as WhatsApp has existed, a chat with a customer came with their phone number. Usernames change that. Meta has started giving WhatsApp users the option to be reached by a username instead of a number, and the WhatsApp Business Platform now identifies customers by a new ID. Here is what Meta’s own documentation says, what it means for your inbox and CRM, and how to get ready.
What WhatsApp usernames are
A WhatsApp username is an optional, unique name a person can set so others can reach them without their phone number. According to WhatsApp’s blog, if someone has enabled a username, a person or business they message for the first time no longer sees their phone number. There is no directory to browse and no suggestions, so people need to know the exact username, and users can add an optional username key that others must also know before they can message them.
WhatsApp says usernames are rolling out gradually and that people get a notice in the app when the feature is available in their country. Meta’s pages don’t list countries or a launch date per country, so if you need to know whether usernames are live for your customers, check Meta’s documentation rather than relying on a date you read elsewhere.
Businesses can claim a username too (Meta opened reservations on 29 June 2026), but Meta is explicit that business usernames are not intended for privacy: a business that adopts one still shows its phone number.
What a business receives instead: the business-scoped user ID
On the WhatsApp Business API (Cloud API), every incoming message now carries a business-scoped user ID, or BSUID, in a field called user_id, whether or not the customer has a username. It looks like a country code, a full stop and a long string of letters and digits, for example US.13491208655302741918. Meta says it must be used in full; change any part and the request fails.
The ID is scoped to your business portfolio (what used to be called Business Manager). Every phone number in your portfolio can message that customer with it, but the same customer has a different ID with every other business, and a number from another portfolio can’t use yours. If the customer changes their phone number, Meta generates a new BSUID and sends a system message to say so.
When you still get the phone number (Meta’s rules)
| Situation | Phone number in the webhook? |
|---|---|
| Customer has no username | Yes, as before |
| Customer has a username, and your business number messaged or called that phone, or was messaged or called by it, in the last 30 days | Yes |
| Customer has a username and is in your Meta-hosted contact book | Yes |
| Customer has a username and none of the above applies | No, only the BSUID and the username |
| Customer taps a request-contact-info button you sent | Yes, the number arrives in a contacts webhook |
What changes for your business
- You may not see the number. A new customer with a username can arrive as an ID and a username only. Meta notes the 30-day rule is checked per business phone number, not across your whole portfolio.
- Systems keyed on phone numbers need to handle the ID. If your CRM, order sheet or helpdesk uses the phone number as the customer’s key, a username-only customer has nothing to match. Meta’s FAQ says partners and businesses must adopt BSUID to keep processing messages from people who use usernames.
- Duplicates can appear. The same person may show up first as an ID and later with a number, for example after they share it. Plan how those two records become one.
- Some authentication templates need a number. Meta lists one-tap, zero-tap and copy-code authentication templates as the message types a BSUID can’t receive.
What still works
- Replying. You can send messages to a BSUID with the Cloud API’s recipient field. Meta lists every message type as supported except those authentication templates.
- Templates. Marketing and utility templates can go to a BSUID, and they can carry a request-contact-info button that asks the customer to share their number.
- The 24-hour window and billing. Meta’s BSUID page lists no changes to billing and doesn’t describe any change to the 24-hour customer service window: normal replies inside it, approved templates outside it.
How to prepare
Stop using the phone number as the only key
Give every WhatsApp contact an internal ID, and store the BSUID and the phone number as two separate fields, either of which can be empty.
Ask for a number only when you need it
Delivery, a courier call or a one-time code may need the phone number. Ask at that moment, ideally with Meta’s request-contact-info button, not as the first question in every chat.
Plan the merge
When a username-only contact later shares their number, link the two records so the history, orders and notes stay together, and keep a way to undo a wrong match.
Watch for ID changes
Handle Meta’s system messages for a changed number or a changed user ID, so a returning customer lands in the same conversation.
How OrcaFlo handles usernames
On the official WhatsApp Business API, OrcaFlo answers customers who message with a username and a hidden number: their chat is keyed by Meta’s BSUID and the assistant replies through Meta’s recipient field, using the person’s newest ID if it changed. When a message carries both the ID and a phone number, OrcaFlo remembers the link, so a later username-only message lands in the same chat. If someone first seen as a username later shows their number, OrcaFlo merges the two contacts automatically, the same merge as in the panel, and you can undo it.
On OrcaFlo’s QR link to the WhatsApp Business app, replies can’t go to a username-only ID, so if many of your customers adopt usernames the official API is the connection to use. You can keep the app on the same number with coexistence. More on the channel: WhatsApp in OrcaFlo.
Price
No plan fee for 14 days and your first 500 messages free, then from $14.99 a month + 2¢ per message. No setup fee. Meta’s API fees are separate and billed by Meta to your own WhatsApp Business account. See pricing.
Questions
Yes, once usernames are available to them. WhatsApp says that if a person has enabled a username, a business they message for the first time no longer sees their phone number. On the Business API the business receives a business-scoped user ID instead.
A business-scoped user ID: an ID Meta assigns to each customer per business portfolio, such as US.13491208655302741918. It appears in the user_id field of incoming messages, and you can reply to it with the Cloud API’s recipient field.
Yes. Meta lists every message type as supported for a BSUID except one-tap, zero-tap and copy-code authentication templates, which still need a phone number. Marketing and utility templates work.
Ask when you need it. Meta offers a request-contact-info button for utility and marketing templates or as an interactive message; when the customer taps it, their number arrives in a contacts webhook.
WhatsApp says the rollout is gradual and that users get an in-app notice when usernames reach their country. Meta’s pages don’t give a country list, so check Meta’s documentation for the current status.
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