Netflix test will allow members to pay for password sharing users

Netflix It will soon launch a test that will allow basic account holders to pay extra fees to users outside their homes – a new attempt by the company to tackle illegal password sharing.

according to Netflix Terms of ServiceCustomer account “may not be shared with individuals outside of your household”. After years of turning a blind eye to password-sharing behavior that falls outside this requirement, the company last year Run a limited test that prompts users to enter their account credentials As a way to get freelancers to pay for their own accounts.

Now, in an upcoming test launching in three countries — Chile, Costa Rica and Peru — Netflix will allow members who share their accounts with people outside their families to do so “easily and securely, while also paying more,” according to Chengyi Long, director of product innovation at Netflix. The new options will be rolled out in the next few weeks in all three countries (and may or may not expand beyond those markets).

“We’ve always made it easy for people who live together to share their Netflix accounts, with features like separate profiles and multiple broadcasts on our Standard and Premium plan,” Long wrote. Blog post about the test. “While these were hugely popular, they also created some confusion about when and how Netflix might be shared. As a result, accounts are shared between families – affecting our ability to invest in great new TV shows and movies for our members.”

With the Add Extra Member feature, members with Netflix 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, personal recommendations, login, and password – for less than the cost of a separate Netflix plan.

In test countries, adding a sub-member costs 2,380 CLP in Chile, $2.99 ​​in Costa Rica, and 7.9 PEN in Peru. Here’s a breakdown of the pricing for Netflix plans in each country:

As with other tests performed by the streaming device, there is no guarantee that a payment option for non-family members will end up as a permanent part of the service. “We will work to understand the benefit of these two features to members in these three countries before we make changes elsewhere in the world,” Long wrote in the post.

In addition, Netflix is ​​testing the ability to allow subscribers to transfer user profiles to new accounts, which will make it easier for those involved in using passwords to pay for their own plans. Members in the three test countries can allow people who share their accounts to transfer profile information to either a new account or a sub-account of an additional member—while keeping viewing history, My List, and personal recommendations information.

In the three test markets, over the next few weeks, Netflix will notify members who share their account outside of their household of the new options. The Member may be required to verify his account only if a device outside his household has logged into the account; Netflix may then ask the user to verify the login from the device by sending a verification code.

Netflix ended 2021 with 221.8 million total paying subscribers all over the world. Of these, 75.2 million (34% of the total) were in the United States and Canada.