Netflix To Charge Extra Fees For Account Sharing Outside Household

(RTTNews) - Online streaming platform Netflix Inc. (NFLX) recently said that it would soon begin charging extra fees for sharing accounts with people outside the household. This move is the company's latest attempt to bring down the process of password sharing, which is prevalent among Netflix users since many years.

The fees will first be implemented in Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru over the coming few weeks and will become worldwide over the coming few days.

Netflix said in a statement on Wednesday, "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. Based on current conversion rates, 2,380 CLP is about $2.98 USD and 7.9 PEN is about $2.12 USD.

The new fee will be paired for users to transfer profile information including their viewing history and watchlist to a new account or an Extra Member account. After rolling out the fee and profile transfers in countries like Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru, Netflix will "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 company said.

The streaming platform said that it would let know members who share their account outside their household about the new options. A member will be asked to verify their account only if a device outside their household logs in to the account. Netflix will then ask the user to verify the login from the device by sending a verification code."

Last year, Netflix had started sending warning messages to users who borrow login information, which read, "If you don't live with the owner of this account, you need your own account to keep watching."

In Wednesday's announcement, the company said there has been "confusion about when and how Netflix can be shared. As a result, accounts are being shared between households, thus affecting our ability to invest in great new TV and films for our members."

Netflix added 8.3 million paid memberships in the fourth quarter of 2021, bringing the total to 222 million in over 190 countries. Streaming plan range from$9.99 to $19.99 per month in the US.