WhatsApp verified accounts makes it easy for companies to message people

The app says it's 'exploring ways for you to communicate with the businesses that matter to you'

The insult of the Prophet Muhammad was said to be sent via the popular instant messaging service (Reuters/Thomas White)

WhatsApp has introduced verified accounts for businesses.

They’re designed to make it easier for consumers and businesses to communicate with each other, and a green badge with a white tick helps them stand out from regular accounts.

A yellow chat bubble also appears inside conversations between regular and verified accounts, to confirm you’re talking to a business.

“This chat is with a verified business account,” reads the message inside the bubble, as spotted by WABetaInfo. “Tap for more info.”

Similar messages will also tell you if a business account is unverified, in which case it will also be missing a badge.

“If you already have a business's phone number saved in your address book, the name you will see is the name you have saved in your address book,” says WhatsApp.

“If you don't have a business's phone number saved in your address book, the name you will see is the name the business has chosen for themselves.”

The move has been rumoured for some time, and the messaging app says it’s “exploring ways for you to communicate with the businesses that matter to you.”

(WABetaInfo (WABetaInfo)

If you’re worried about getting spammed by companies, you can also block them if you want.

Just open the conversation, tap the menu button, select More and hit Block.

Verified accounts are currently limited to a “small number of businesses”, but they’re likely to roll out a lot more widely in the very near future.