Add a payment method for WhatsApp

Add a card at Meta so your WhatsApp templates and campaigns keep sending — Meta bills your own business for WhatsApp messages, not Raion Hub.

Time: 5 min
Who: WhatsApp permission
Plan: All plans

Integrations
WhatsApp Business
The number's row
Billing & payment
Meta's Billing & payments, on Meta's screens
Add payment method, on Meta's screens

Needs a connected number, and full control of its Meta business portfolio.

Steps

Open the number

In the sidebar, under Automation, click Integrations, then WhatsApp Business, then the number’s row on the Accounts tab.

Any number in the portfolio will do — the payment method belongs to the business portfolio, so every number in it shares it.

Why it doesn't matter which number you pick

Meta keeps payment methods on the business portfolio that owns your WhatsApp account, not on a single number. Two numbers in the same portfolio share one payment method, so add it once.

Open Meta’s billing page

Under Overview, click Billing & payment in Meta Business Manager; Meta opens in a new tab.

The link opens Meta's billing page for this number's own business portfolio.

No link on your number, or you'd rather go straight to Meta

The link only appears when Raion Hub knows which Meta business portfolio the number belongs to. Numbers connected before we started recording it don’t have one.

Either way, you can go straight to Meta: open Billing & payments in Meta Business Suite , log in with the Facebook account that manages the business, and pick the business portfolio from the menu at the top left if you have more than one.

Add a card at Meta

On Meta’s billing page, choose your WhatsApp Business account, then add a credit or debit card and save it.

Who can do this, which cards work, and where Meta puts it

These screens belong to Meta, and Meta renames them from time to time — look for Billing & payments, your WhatsApp Business account, and Add payment method. Meta’s own steps are in Add a credit card to your WhatsApp Business Platform account .

Who: someone with full control of the business portfolio, or with permission to manage its finances. Anyone else sees the page but cannot add a card.
Which card: a credit or debit card. Meta can refuse some prepaid and virtual cards; if yours is refused, try another card.
Where it goes: the card is saved to the business portfolio and attached to the WhatsApp Business account you chose. Meta charges it in the currency set on that account.

You do not have to do this during Meta’s signup. The Add Payment Method button on Meta’s last signup screen is the same thing, but pressing it there stops your number from finishing connecting — see Connect your WhatsApp number. Add the card afterwards, from here.

Retry what failed

Back in Raion Hub, retry the campaign recipients or messages that failed while there was no payment method.

Where failed sends show up

Campaigns: a recipient on Retrying goes out by itself at its next attempt. Retry the others from the campaign’s recipient list — see Find out why someone did not get your campaign. A recipient on Gave up cannot be retried; send them a new campaign.
Conversations: a failed message has a red line under it. Click Retry under it if it is there; otherwise send it again yourself.

What Meta charges for

Meta charges your business for WhatsApp templates, per message delivered, and for ordinary replies after the first 1,000 a month per number. It bills the business portfolio directly, separate from your Raion Hub plan. Without a payment method, templates fail to send, and once a number has used its 1,000 free replies in a month, Meta stops delivering the rest until a card is added.

See What WhatsApp messages cost for the full picture, including the free entry point window.

If something goes wrong

The messages Raion Hub shows.

What you see	Why	What to do
`Payment issue on the WhatsApp account — Check billing in Meta Business Manager (error 131042)` under a message in Conversations	Meta refused to send because of the account’s billing: no card, a declined card, or an unpaid bill	Add or fix the payment method on this page’s steps, then send it again
A campaign recipient on `Couldn't reach` or `Retrying`, with a line ending in `(error 131042)`	The same billing problem, on a campaign send	Fix the payment method. A Retrying recipient goes out by itself; retry the others
Replies suddenly stop going out part way through the month, with error 131042	The number has used its 1,000 free replies for the month and there is no card	Add a card; replies go out again straight away
No Billing & payment in Meta Business Manager link on the number	This connection predates us recording your Meta portfolio	Go straight to Meta — see the fold under Open Meta’s billing page

Errors on Meta’s screens

These come from Meta's billing screens. Your payment method lives in your own Meta business portfolio, so Raion Hub cannot see or fix them for you.

What you seeWhat to do

You can see Billing & payments but can't add a payment method
Your Facebook account doesn't have enough control of the business portfolio to change its billing.
Ask someone with full control of the business portfolio to add the card, or to give you full control or finance permission, then try again.
Meta declines the card
The card's bank refused the charge or check, or Meta does not accept that kind of card — some prepaid and virtual cards are refused.
Try another credit or debit card, or ask your bank to allow payments to Meta. Meta's own steps for adding a card are on the page linked here.
Meta Business Help: Add a credit card to your WhatsApp Business Platform account(opens in a new tab)
Meta says this payment method is already saved to the maximum number of accounts
Meta caps how many accounts can share one card, and the cap cannot be raised.
Use a different card.
Meta: Support for business customers(opens in a new tab)
Meta says your payment account is disabled
Meta has disabled payments on that account, usually after activity it found suspicious.
Ask your business's finance admin to check it, or ask Meta to review it from Meta Business Support Home.
Meta Business Support Home(opens in a new tab)
You don't know whether a payment method is on the account
Meta's billing page shows the payment methods attached to each WhatsApp Business account in the portfolio.
Open Billing & payments, choose the WhatsApp Business account and look under its payment methods. None listed means messages will fail with error 131042 once they are charged.
Meta Business Help: About billing for your WhatsApp Business account(opens in a new tab)

Still stuck on Meta's side? Meta Business Support Home.