Verify advertiser and payer on Meta ads: countries and steps

Short answer: if your ads reach the EU, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia or India, Meta can require each ad to name a verified advertiser (the person or business the ad promotes) and a verified payer (who pays for it). Verify in Meta Business Suite under Authorizations and verifications. A person verifies with a government-issued ID; an organization is first matched against third-party databases and only uploads company documents if no match is found. Meta reviews within 2 business days. Verifying doesn't finish the job: you still have to select the verified names on the ad, or set them as your default in Ads Settings.

I work on Everix, an AI media buyer for Meta ads. This week several sellers in Malaysia messaged us stuck on the same prompt: the ad set asks them to verify the advertiser and payer, and for one of them the prompt stayed after her verification came back approved. Below is what Meta's help pages say, read on October 27, 2026. If your new ad account is stuck on a phone check instead, that is a different step with its own fix.

Where Meta asks for it

Meta's page on advertiser and payer transparency lists what can make disclosure required: your account's history of policy violations or certain risk signals, ads that are more likely to cause harm, and the laws or local guidelines of the country the ad is delivered to. The countries on that list today:

• European Union
• Singapore
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• Malaysia
• Australia
• India

Financial services ads delivered in Australia also show who paid for the ad. Advertisers outside these cases can disclose voluntarily, which Meta says helps avoid interruptions if a requirement reaches them later.

Who is the advertiser and who is the payer

• Advertiser: the person or organization whose goods or services the ad promotes. If the ad sells shoes, it's the business selling the shoes. For agencies and resellers, it's the client.
• Payer: the person or organization paying for the ad. For an agency, the client the ads run for; in a reseller setup, the reseller that owns the business portfolio running the ad set.

In most cases the two are the same, and one verification covers both.

How to verify

• Start from the Authorizations and verifications tab in Meta Business Suite. You need at least partial access to the ad account, such as admin or advertiser, and if the ad account sits in a business portfolio, you need to be in that portfolio too.
• A person verifies with a government-issued ID.
• An organization starts the flow first and lets Meta look for a match in third-party databases. If there is none, upload official documents that show the legal name and the official mailing address or phone number, unexpired and issued by the relevant authority: a business license or articles of incorporation, a registration or license document, a government-issued tax document, or a business bank statement. A utility bill proves an address and phone number, not the legal name.
• Documents have to be in a supported language. English, Malay and Mandarin are on the list; anything else needs an English translation stamped by a translation agency.
• Meta reviews within 2 business days, and the status shows on the same Authorizations and verifications tab.

Verified, and the ad still won't deliver

Check these three, in this order.

• The names aren't selected. Verification only makes the names available. When you create or edit the ad, pick the verified advertiser and payer from the dropdown; Ads Manager also lets you change them on several ads at once. If they never change, set a default advertiser and payer in Ads Settings in desktop Ads Manager, for the country you advertise in, and new ad sets fill them in.
• The names aren't in the dropdown. Verified details are shared with the ad accounts where you have admin or advertiser access. If you verified from one account and run ads from another, check the access first.
• The status isn't approved yet. A name still in review can't be selected. "More information needed" or "Verification failed" means Meta has left instructions on the Authorizations and verifications tab: follow them and resubmit.

Once the names are selected and the ads are delivering, the work moves to the numbers. Everix watches every ad around the clock and flags an ad set that has stopped delivering, a creative that is wearing out or a country that is burning money, and asks before adding budget (7-day free trial).

Verified, and boosting an Instagram post still fails

One case from November 8 sits outside those three. Verification was approved, the default advertiser and payer were filled in, the ad set showed the verified name, and publishing still failed with "Permission error". The ad was boosting an existing Instagram post. The same seller could boost that post from her personal Facebook profile, but not from Business Suite or the Instagram app. That points at the link between the Instagram account and the ad account, not at verification.

• Check that the Instagram account is a professional account. In the Instagram app it's under Account type and tools; a personal account can't be boosted from.
• In Business Settings, open Accounts, then Instagram accounts. The Instagram account should be in your business portfolio, with your ad account connected to it.
• To tell the post from the account, create the same ad by uploading the image instead of picking the existing post. If that one publishes, the Instagram link is what's missing.

Whose ID, when someone else runs ads for your Page

Verification belongs to a person. If a partner or employee creates the ads from their own Facebook profile and the prompt appears for them, they verify with their own government ID. Your own verification only reaches the ad accounts where you have admin or advertiser access, so it doesn't clear the prompt on an account you don't have access to.

If the organization is rejected

Meta's page on rejected business verification lists submitting false or misleading information, trying to verify a business portfolio you don't own or can't represent, trying to get around the review, and a website that doesn't load, doesn't use HTTPS, or has links that lead to error messages. The website is the one most small stores can fix in an afternoon. Meta says you may be able to appeal a rejection.

Documents that get sent back

Most rejections we've seen sellers post about come down to the documents, not the business. Meta's page on optional advertiser verification spells out what it won't take.

• A printout or download from a government website. Meta asks for the original document, and says it doesn't accept extracts downloaded from government sites. Any edit to the file can also get it refused.
• A name that is close but not exact. The legal name, address and phone number on the document have to match what you typed, the same way they appear on the company registration.
• A scanned or retouched ID. To verify yourself, upload a photo of the government-issued ID taken straight from your phone.
• An email on a different domain. If you confirm by email, the email domain has to match the website you entered for the business. A Gmail address won't confirm a business whose site is on its own domain.

If the phone bill isn't in the company's name, you don't have to use it. Confirm by email on the company domain, or by phone, SMS or WhatsApp to the number on the documents you uploaded. For business verification, Meta also lists domain verification, done by adding a meta tag or DNS record to your site. Edit the business details later and you'll have to verify again.

Verify once, then select the verified names on the ad, or set them as the default in Ads Settings so new ad sets carry them. A verified name that isn't selected doesn't count.

How Everix handles it

Everix can't verify anyone for you; that happens in your own Meta account. What it does is keep a lane from launching half set up: for ads reaching the EU it asks for the advertiser and payer in brand settings, and for Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Australia or Brazil it asks for the verified identity IDs you copy from Meta's Business Settings, then holds the launch until they're filled, because Meta rejects those ad sets without them. Once ads are running, Everix watches every ad around the clock and makes a media buyer's calls: which creative is wearing out, which country or placement is burning money, which winner has earned more budget. While Meta's review is running, you can already connect your ad account and fill in your brand settings, so a lane is ready when the verified names and IDs come through.