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man glossary/credit-line

glossary define credit-line

Name

Credit Line

A Meta line of credit a Solution Partner shares with client WhatsApp Business Accounts, so Meta bills the partner and the partner invoices the business.

Synopsis

Line of credit, Partner credit line, Extended credit line, WhatsApp credit line

Section

Pricing & billing

Level

practitioner

▍

Reviewed

Follow the money on a partner credit line

6 / 6
Metaextends credit
Credit lineextendedcredits
Client WABAwaba_currency INR
Delivered msgscategory × market
Meta invoiceone, aggregated
Solution Partnerliable for spend
Businesspays the partner
Error 131042over limit
  • Meta to Credit line: credit
  • Credit line to Client WABA: share + attach
  • Client WABA to Delivered msgs: sends
  • Delivered msgs to Meta invoice: charged
  • Meta invoice to Solution Partner: bills partner
  • Solution Partner to Business: invoices
  • Credit line to Error 131042: limit hit

Hop 6 of 6

Solution PartnerBusinessinvoices

Arrives at Business — pays the partner.

Step along the arrows: Meta extends credit, the partner attaches it to a client account, delivered messages are charged to the line, Meta invoices the partner once and the partner bills the business.

Hop 6 of 6: Solution Partner to Business — invoices.

Description

What is a WhatsApp credit line?

A credit line is a line of credit Meta extends to a Solution Partner — a Meta Business Partner that works as a business solution provider (BSP) — for the WhatsApp Business Platform. The partner shares it with the WhatsApp Business Accounts of the businesses it onboards, and Meta charges those accounts' delivered messages to the partner instead of to each business. Meta sends the partner one aggregated invoice; the partner is the bill-to party, is liable for all spend on accounts that use its line, and bills its clients on its own terms, for example through a prepaid wallet, a monthly invoice or a platform fee.

It is the alternative to a WABA payment method, where a business adds its own card or other method and Meta bills it directly. Only Solution Partners have credit lines: Meta's documentation says businesses onboarded by a Tech Provider must add their own payment method once onboarding is complete. On a credit line the business still owns its WhatsApp Business Account, phone numbers and templates; what moves to the partner is the payment relationship with Meta, and with it the WhatsApp invoice the business actually receives.

Mechanically, the line has an ID returned by the extendedcredits edge of the partner's business portfolio. Sharing it with a client creates an allocation configuration and attaches the line to the client's account with a waba_currency — AUD, EUR, GBP, IDR, INR or USD — which Meta uses for invoicing. Meta says a credit line cannot be changed once attached; revoking a share applies to all of that customer's accounts shared with the partner; and a line that is over its limit, or not set or active, makes sends fail with error 131042, a business eligibility payment issue. For accounts on a partner's line, pricing analytics returns volume but not cost, so the partner's invoice is the money record.

Key takeaways

  • A credit line is Meta's line of credit that a Solution Partner shares with client WhatsApp Business Accounts to pay for their messages.
  • Meta sends the partner one aggregated invoice; the partner is liable for all spend and invoices each business itself.
  • Only Solution Partners have credit lines; businesses onboarded by Tech Providers add their own payment method.
  • The account's currency is set when the line is attached, and Meta says a credit line cannot be changed once attached.
  • An over-limit or inactive credit line makes billable sends fail with error 131042.

Mechanics

How does a WhatsApp credit line work?

  1. step 1 — Meta extends credit to the partner

    A Solution Partner holds a Meta credit line, listed by GET /{BUSINESS_ID}/extendedcredits. Calls use a system user token with the business_management permission and the Admin or Financial Editor role on the partner's portfolio.

  2. step 2 — The partner shares and attaches it

    POST /{EXTENDED_CREDIT_LINE_ID}/whatsapp_credit_sharing_and_attach with the client's waba_id and a waba_currency returns an allocation_config_id. Meta documents a two-step alternative — share with the client's portfolio, then attach to the account — that will replace it.

  3. step 3 — The share is verified

    The allocation's receiving_credential.id must match the client account's primary_funding_id. When they match, the client's billable messages are charged to the partner's line.

  4. step 4 — Delivered messages roll up to the partner

    Each delivered message is priced by category and recipient's market in the account's currency, and Meta bills the total to the partner in one aggregated invoice.

  5. step 5 — The partner bills the business

    The partner invoices or debits its client under its own contract — a wallet, a postpaid invoice, fees and taxes — which is why the business's bill can differ in shape from Meta's rate card.

  6. step 6 — Revoking ends the arrangement

    The partner can delete the allocation at any time. If a client unshares its account or removes the partner, Meta blocks messaging on that account to protect the line, so a new way to pay must be ready first.

Usage

A WhatsApp credit line in code

# 1. Find the partner's credit line ID
curl -G "https://graph.facebook.com/v26.0/{PARTNER_BUSINESS_ID}/extendedcredits" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer {SYSTEM_USER_TOKEN}" \
  --data-urlencode "fields=id,legal_entity_name"
 
# 2. Share it with the client's WABA and attach it, invoicing in INR
curl -X POST "https://graph.facebook.com/v26.0/{EXTENDED_CREDIT_LINE_ID}/whatsapp_credit_sharing_and_attach" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer {SYSTEM_USER_TOKEN}" \
  -d "waba_id={CLIENT_WABA_ID}" \
  -d "waba_currency=INR"
# -> { "allocation_config_id": "{ALLOCATION_CONFIG_ID}", "waba_id": "{CLIENT_WABA_ID}" }
 
# 3. Verify: receiving_credential.id must equal primary_funding_id
curl -G "https://graph.facebook.com/v26.0/{ALLOCATION_CONFIG_ID}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer {SYSTEM_USER_TOKEN}" \
  --data-urlencode "fields=receiving_credential"
curl -G "https://graph.facebook.com/v26.0/{CLIENT_WABA_ID}" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer {CLIENT_BUSINESS_TOKEN}" \
  --data-urlencode "fields=primary_funding_id"

Partner-side calls. Meta notes the one-step share-and-attach call will be replaced by separate share and attach calls.

Properties

A WhatsApp credit line: key facts and limits

Held by
Solution Partners (not Tech Providers)
Meta invoices
The partner, in one aggregated invoice
Liable for spend
The partner, for every shared account
waba_currency values
AUD, EUR, GBP, IDR, INR, USD
After attaching
The credit line cannot be changed
Over limit or inactive
Sends fail with error 131042
Pricing analytics
Volume returned, COST omitted
Partner permissions
business_management + Admin or Financial Editor

Caveats

Common mistakes with a WhatsApp credit line

  • Not knowing who pays Meta

    Many businesses only learn whether they are on their own payment method or a partner's line when sends fail. Ask your partner, write it down and name a billing contact on both sides.

  • Attaching in the wrong currency

    The currency chosen at attachment is the account's invoicing currency, and the line cannot be swapped later. Eligible Indian businesses should attach in INR: non-INR accounts stop delivering from 1 January 2027.

  • Expecting cost in pricing analytics

    Meta returns no COST for accounts on a partner's credit line. Reconcile money against the partner's invoice and your own webhook ledger, and use analytics for volumes.

  • Removing the partner without a plan

    Unsharing the account or removing the partner makes Meta block its messaging to protect the line. Add your own payment method or onboard the new partner first, and switch in a quiet window.

  • Ignoring the limit before a big campaign

    A line over its limit stops every billable send with 131042. Ask how limits, low-balance warnings and top-ups work before a festive campaign triples your volume.

Why it matters

Why does a WhatsApp credit line matter?

For many Indian businesses the credit line is why onboarding feels simple: no company card on a Meta account and one local invoice from the partner. It also changes who can fix billing when it breaks. If the partner's line is over its limit or detached, every billable message from the account stops with 131042, and only the partner can clear it. Knowing whether your account runs on a credit line tells finance whose invoice is authoritative, tells engineers where cost data will and will not appear, and shapes what to ask a partner about limits, currency and leaving.

Example

Example: A Coimbatore exporter that never adds a card

A Coimbatore garment exporter signs up through a Solution Partner and never adds a payment method in Meta's billing settings. The partner shares its credit line with the exporter's WhatsApp Business Account and attaches it in INR; the allocation's receiving_credential matches the account's primary_funding_id, and the first order-update template is delivered that afternoon. Each month Meta bills the partner for the exporter's delivered messages inside one aggregated invoice, and the partner bills the exporter in rupees. When the exporter's developer opens pricing analytics, it shows message volumes but no cost, so finance reconciles against the partner's invoice and the team's own webhook ledger instead.

Notes

Best practices for a WhatsApp credit line

  • Get the credit line arrangement, currency and limit for your account in writing from the partner.
  • Attach in INR from day one for an Indian business to avoid a migration later.
  • Keep your own webhook-based cost ledger, since pricing analytics will not show cost on a partner line.
  • Agree an exit process — revocation, new payment method, test send — before you need it.

Questions

Credit Line FAQs

Who pays Meta when my account uses a partner's credit line?
The partner does. Meta charges your account's delivered messages to the partner's line and sends the partner one aggregated invoice; the partner then bills you under its own contract.
Can every WhatsApp partner offer a credit line?
No. Only Solution Partners have Meta credit lines. Businesses onboarded by a Tech Provider add their own payment method and are billed by Meta directly.
Can I change the currency or credit line after it is attached?
Not in place. Meta says a credit line cannot be changed once attached to an account; a different line or currency means moving to a new WhatsApp Business Account, which Meta's currency migration API can automate.
Why are my sends failing with 131042 on a partner credit line?
Usually because the line is over its limit, inactive or detached, or an on-behalf-of request is pending. Only the partner can fix it, so send them the failed wamid and the time of the first failure.

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