Netflix Tests Extra Charges For Password Sharing

Synopsis – Initially, the test will be carried out in the three countries, Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. According to a blog posted on the Netflix website, the company has mentioned that the platform’s feature that allows several profiles to stream from the same Netflix account has been quite popular, although they have been creating confusion as well.

OTT (Over The Top) streaming platform Netflix will no more turn blind eyes on users sharing the same account outside the household by making them pay for it. The company will soon launch its testing in order to charge an extra fee for sharing the same subscription.

However, initially, the test will be carried out in the three countries, Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. According to a blog posted on the Netflix website, the company has mentioned that the platform’s feature that allows several profiles to stream from the same Netflix account has been quite popular, although they have been creating confusion as well.

Stating that it is impacting the company’s ability to invest in ‘great new TV and films, the post on behalf of Chengyi Long, Director-Product Innovation, Netflix, mentioned, 

“While these 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.”

While it is very common among people to share the Netflix password with friends and families, the company is planning to charge extra from the users for doing the same. The announcement comes after recently the streaming platform had increased the prices on its all plans in the United States (US).

Netflix is introducing two testing plans as its crackdown on the users sharing passwords despite not living in the same household. The plans are ‘Add an Extra Member’ and ‘Transfer Profile to a New Account’.

Explaining ‘Add an Extra Member’ plan, Long said, “Members on our Standard and Premium plans will be able to add sub-accounts for up to two people they don’t live with – each with their own profile, personalized recommendations, login, and password – at a lower price: 2,380 CLP in Chile, 2.99 USD in Costa Rica, and 7.9 PEN in Peru.”

Adding about the ‘Transfer Profile to a New Account’ he mentioned, “Members on our Basic, Standard, and Premium plans can enable people who share their account to transfer profile information either to a new account or an Extra Member sub-account – keeping the viewing history, My List, and personalized recommendations.”

Towards the end of the post, the company has mentioned that before implementing these features in other countries it will examine their impact in the mentioned countries.

“We’ll be working to understand the utility of these two features for members in these three countries before making changes anywhere else in the world,” the post mentioned.