Netflix has announced that they will charge for password sharing in an additional five countries, as the streaming giant continues to crack down on the practice.
Today (July 22), news broke that Netflix has asked customers in five more countries – Argentina, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and the Dominican Republic to pay additional fees if they share their passwords with viewers outside their home countries. are doing. Additional charges vary between countries but users cannot expect to pay more than an additional US$2.99.
According to IGN, the additional cost will not affect the use of the streaming service from mobile devices. This step has been taken after the introduction of Netflix An “Add Additional Members” Feature To Chile, Peru and Costa Rica in March.
The entertainment service has been trying to limit password sharing for some time. Back in 2019, Netflix said they intended to implement new rules for sharing passwords, but would do so in a “consumer-friendly manner.”
In 2021, Netflix introduced a verification system in some countries, allowing programs to start with a caveat: “If you don’t live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching. “
In research published earlier this year, it was estimated that at least 27 percent of Netflix’s then 14.9 million UK subscribers shared their accounts with other members of their household alone. The research also found that Netflix’s five biggest markets in Europe – the UK, Germany, Spain, France and Italy – share a “minimum” password of 17 million subscribers.
A statement from Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings in April said the company was working on “how to monetize sharing.” “Remember, these are over 100 million households who are already watching Netflix,” Hastings said. “They love the service. We have to pay somewhat for them.”
Earlier this week, Netflix reported a loss of 970,000 subscribers in the second quarter of 2022. Although less than the streaming giant’s estimated loss of two million originally estimated, Lineage follows the loss of 200,000 subscribers in the first quarter of the year.
Despite the change in Netflix’s password change plans, they anticipate an increase of one million subscribers in the period between July 1 and September 30 this year.
In January, Netflix increased its subscription prices for users in the US, as the company faces increasing competition from the likes of Disney+, HBO Max and Apple TV+.
