Netflix announced an increase in its subscription fee a few weeks ago. Now, it has come back with the news that will discourage Netflix account sharing. It will stop people from password sharing who don’t live in the same household by prompting them to pay an extra fee for achieving that option.
In a blog post, Chengyi Long, director of product innovation, says, “While these [household plans] have been hugely popular, they have also created some confusion about when and how Netflix can be shared. As a result, accounts are being shared between households — impacting our ability to invest in great new TV and films for our members.”
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Netflix will try out its approach in three countries: Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru, as a test run. There, in addition to the ability to transfer viewing profiles into new accounts (either your own primary account or someone else’s), subscribers will get prompts to add an extra viewer to their package at a discounted price: 2,380 CLP in Chile, 2.99 USD in Costa Rica, and 7.9 PEN in Peru.
Last year, the company experimented with an account verification tool to keep unauthorized users from taking advantage of others’ accounts.
But the addition of “add an extra member” and “transfer profile” features indicate that Netflix is thinking strategically about how it can keep growing as the company’s subscriber numbers continue to grow.
Unfortunately, we knew the great password crackdown was coming. Enjoy your parents’ or ex’s shared credentials while you can.
