How do I fix Brazilian WhatsApp number mismatches in HubSpot?

Apps HubSpot Native Apps
1

We have an integrated WABA channel with Brazilian numbers.

The problem is that incoming messages are arriving with inconsistent phone number formats — sometimes in a 13-digit format where the 4th digit is “9”, and sometimes in a 12-digit format without the “9”.

We are certain that both formats refer to the same user (e.g., they are valid for both calls and outgoing messages). However, due to the inconsistency, HubSpot is creating duplicate contacts and our workflows are breaking.

For us — and surely not just us — the inconsistent phone number formats are throwing the system into chaos. Existing contacts aren’t linked to inboxes, duplicate contacts are created, and those duplicates are assigned to different team members. It’s complete disorder.
Our custom settings within HubSpot don’t resolve the issue.

It’s critically important that, at the WhatsApp Business API integration level, client phone numbers are always received in a standardized format. Some kind of number normalization mechanism is urgently needed. :folded_hands:

2

Hi @YGlebova! Thank you for sharing this use case. @Lucila-Andimol or @danmoyle -- have you seen reports of this behavior before? I wonder if we can find a workaround or if this should go to the Ideas forum

3

Hey there @YGlebova and welcome to the Community. Thanks for the tag @kennedyp. This isn’t something I’ve personally had any experience with - I haven’t had contacts in Brazil + used WhatsApp, nor have I had clients in the scenario. So I did a little AI reearch, and I found it’s actually relatively common. Apparently Brazilian mobile numbers often have an extra “9” after the country and area code (e.g., +55 11 91234-5678 vs. +55 11 1234-5678). And both formats can be valid for the same user. But WhatsApp (and telcos) may send/receive either format depending on the source. Of course, CRMs like HubSpot treat these as different contacts unless normalized.

So here’s what I found as a possible solution: Implement a phone number normalization layer between WhatsApp and HubSpot. This ensures all numbers are stored in a single, standardized format before reaching HubSpot. I think Operations Hub can do this with data formatting, or maybe a third-party solution.

Webhook/Middleware Approach

If you’re using a middleware (Node.js, Python, etc.) to process WhatsApp messages before sending them to HubSpot:

  1. Intercept all incoming and outgoing messages.
  2. Normalize the phone number to a canonical format (e.g., always include the “9” for mobile numbers).
  3. Replace the phone number in the payload before passing it to HubSpot.

HubSpot Custom Code Workflow (If Middleware Not Possible)

  • Use HubSpot’s custom code actions (available in Operations Hub or via webhooks) to normalize numbers as they come in.
  • This is less robust than middleware but can help if you can’t modify your integration.

I also found the tip, “Store both formats in a custom property for reference, but always use the normalized format as the unique identifier” as a good idea. This may help with auditing your CRM later.

Then I’d also add this to the Ideas forum here, and submit the issue to WhatsApp as well. Like I said, it’s actually a common issue with international clients.

4

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@danmoyle

](HubSpot Community - About danmoyle - HubSpot Community)

Thank you for your response!

I’ve already contacted WhatsApp support, and their reply made it clear they’re unable to assist.

Here’s what they said:

"I understand your concern about the inconsistent phone number formats you’re receiving from clients through your integrated WhatsApp Business API (WABA) channel.

According to our information on ‘About international phone number format’, a phone number in full international format includes a plus sign (+), then country code, city code, and local phone number. When contacting WhatsApp, always send your phone number in full international format. For example, if a contact in Brazil (country code “55”) has the area code “11” and phone number “XXXX-XXXX”, you’d enter +55 11 XXXX XXXX.

However, for numbers in Brazil, all phone numbers should have a “9” between the country code and area code. The prefix “15” must be removed so the final number will have 13 digits total: +55 9 XXX XXX XXXX.

It’s possible that the inconsistent formats you’re seeing are due to the varying ways clients are formatting their phone numbers when sending messages to your WABA channel.

Regarding phone number normalization, I couldn’t find any information in our Help Center that suggests we have an automatic phone number normalization function on our side."

We have an integration with WhatsApp through HubSpot, so we can’t influence the phone number format via code before it enters HubSpot. That’s precisely why we reached out for support.
We do have Operations Hub, but any actions to normalize phone numbers will only take place after the number enters HubSpot. This is not helpful, because the conversation won’t be linked to the correct contact — the system won’t find a match, and the new conversation will be routed to another user.

As for saving both number formats, I don’t see how that would solve the issue. The WhatsApp integration uses the WhatsApp phone number field, and the telephony system uses a different Phone number field. These fields need to contain the correct phone number format.

Let’s say we store the number without the “9” in the WhatsApp phone number field, and with the “9” in the Phone number field (which we currently do, as we initially believed WhatsApp only sent numbers without the “9”, which turned out to be incorrect — numbers can come both with and without the “9”).

Does it make sense to duplicate the data in custom fields? Even if we store both formats, the WhatsApp integration only works with a single field. It won’t find the existing contact unless we guess the correct format for the WhatsApp phone number field.

Could you please clarify — are we supposed to submit a request ourselves on the HubSpot Ideas forum?

As far as I understand, there’s no guarantee that the request will be implemented, and even if it is, there’s no known timeline.
This is a very critical issue for us. We’ve been struggling with it for a long time and have already contacted multiple support— but no one has been able to help.

5

@YGlebova thanks for the additional information. Like I mentioned before, you are not alone… this is a known, unsolved issue for Brazilian WhatsApp integrations with HubSpot and similar CRMs. The only way to truly fully solve it that I can think of is to insert a normalization step before HubSpot contact matching, which is only possible with a custom integration. Until then, you can only mitigate the fallout with deduplication and normalization after the fact.

As for the Ideas forum, it’s true that there’s no guarantee about that becoming a feature, and it’s a long term journey usually. So it doesn’t solve for right now, but it may help in the future if more people chime in. Since this is a bit of a known issue, I’m not sure there’s a “right now” fix other than something custom.

If it were my HubSpot portal, I would probably try to use Operations Hub to deduplicate and normalize numbers after the fact, to minimize long-term chaos. Then I’d document the issue for my team and set up regular reviews. Not ideal, but a short-term help.

Since it’s a business-critical problem, I’d look into some kind of custom WhatsApp integration (using a provider that allows you to intercept incoming messages via webhook). This is the only way to guarantee number normalization before HubSpot contact matching. I don’t have any custom code or specific integrations to offer up, just where I’d likely look into if it were me.

6

Hi @YGlebova,

Since you can’t intercept or reformat numbers before they enter HubSpot, a good option is to use Operations Hub to deduplicate and normalize numbers afterward. While it won’t fix the initial contact mismatch, it can significantly reduce future confusion by merging duplicates and standardizing data for upcoming interactions.

If this is business-critical, consider exploring a custom middleware solution that sits between WhatsApp and HubSpot. This allows you to standardize every number before it reaches HubSpot, although it might require some development effort or working with a third-party provider that offers this feature.

7

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