In the spring of 2022, streaming giant Netflix started charging for account sharing in certain South American countries. This strategy will now also be applied in several other markets and is a solution that will be rolled out as early as the beginning of next year.
Netflix writes this in an updated and global note:
“Over the last 15 years, we’ve worked hard to build a streaming service that’s easy to use, including for people who travel or live together. It’s great that our members love Netflix movies and TV shows so much they want to share them more broadly. But today’s widespread account sharing between households undermines our long-term ability to invest in and improve our service.
So we’ve been carefully exploring different ways for people who want to share their account to pay a bit more. In March 2022, we launched an “add extra member” feature in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru. From next month, we will launch an alternative “add a home” feature in Argentina, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.”
“You will soon be able to control where your account is being used – and remove homes at any time – from your account settings page.” This makes it possible to separate user profiles – with recommendations, history, listings, and settings – into a new and separate account.
The beauty of an account-sharing system is that these additional users can have their own sub-account with their own passwords. The obvious downside is that you will therefore have to pay for these former “free passengers”.Netflix has also worked with a limit of no more than two additional users. As to the extra cost for a shared account, Netflix has been operating with a charge of $3 per month in the US.
According to the company’s latest figures, Netflix now has 223 million subscriptions worldwide. With the new ad-supported subscription, it is clear that Netflix wants to make more money by any means necessary to satisfy shareholders.
